La Pomme D'Armor
by X- JigsawRose -X
Summary: Isabella Swan is sent to live in France with a distant cousin after being kicked out of her English home by her closest family...However when the cousin she stays with dies unexpectedly after a week she has to find a way to survive on her own.
1. The Beginning of the End

**Now I have two stories on the go I felt like I was leaving this one behind!!**

**Just a little note about 'A Swan's Melody' I HAVE deleted it but only because I am doing more detailed planning on the plot because it will be a confusing story for me to write and I put it up a week ago and it's got LOADS of mistakes...I AM working on it so it will be back up soon!**

**Here is a little taster of what THIS story will be...The prologue will be what happens at the end (however I am NOT going to specify whether this is what happens in the LAST chapter..You will have to wait and see!) Then after the prologue I will work my way back through the story...Kind of like a film ...I have never tried it so I thought I would give it a go.**

**I do NOT own Twilight...I own 'LPDA' (PLOT!) All Ms Meyer's characters belong to her...With some of my own characters thrown in who belong to ME !**

*Bella*

"Final boarding call for flight 22789 to London Gatwick departing from gate five...That's flight 22789 to London Gatwick." The sound of the air stewardess standing in front of the flight gate rang through my ears...I guessed that I would be the only one left now to board the plane. I had no strength in my legs...They were like lead as I stood in front of Edward for what was going to be the last time. I rubbed my soaking wet eyes with my hands as my hand luggage leant on one of my legs. Edward took the sides of my face in his hands and pulled me closer to him...I couldn't move and he must have noticed as he closed the distance between us.

"I don't want to go, Edward" I choked out as he wiped away my tears with his thumbs.

"I know you don't, Bella...If I had my way you would stay here with me but you know you can't. You have to go back and be with your family now...They need you." He replied in a whisper and I let out a sob.

"What am I going to do without you?"

Edward smiled and kissed my nose "you will manage...You have always had strength so much more than I have ever done."

I shook my head under his hold "I'll miss you...So much" I stated...His thumbs moved from my cheeks to my eyelids..I closed them to register every last touch of his to memory. Edward was silent moving his lips and connecting them to mine..I sighed in his mouth as I parted my mouth to let him in...I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on to him tightly for as long as I could as our tongues caressed each other..Edward was moaning against my lips and we were both fighting our overwhelming emotions in that moment.

Edward had been my life for the past year...I have come so far and it has all been because of him...He was my world and my one reason to get through my life in France...I never believed that I would ever be going home as I had lacked the financial means to do so...I didn't care about going back home anymore after I had met Edward because life without him was just too painful to think about.

"I love you...I will always love you." Edward whispered against my mouth as our lips disconnected...I sighed again letting out more tears.

"God, Edward...I love you with every inch of my soul...I am so grateful to have met you." I replied my voice barely recognisable with my emotion.

"I am the one who should be grateful...My beautiful Bella...No words will ever describe just how much you really mean to me." Edward rested his forehead on mine and I could just about see his own tears falling down his face through my clouded vision. I kissed his mouth again savouring the last moment and letting our tongues lead another dance. Edward ran his hands through my hair as he brought them up from my waist...I tilted my head back and stroked both sides of his face with my hand...His tears brushing my cheeks as they fell down from his eyes.

"You have to go" he whispered...His voice enhancing pain.

"I love you." I choked out..Edward smiled.

"I love you too" he replied. He released his hands from my face...He then stepped back...I sniffed loudly as I bent down to pick up my bag...I turned on my heel and walked over to the stewardess who gave me a dirty stare. I brushed it off as she checked my passport picture and my boarding pass...She tore the larger half of my pass off along with my ticket and gave me the free half.

"Thank you" I said taking the square pieces of paper.

"Have a good flight" the woman said...I am sure that I will now never get bored of the French accent again...It's true that I am English and Edward was American but being surrounded by the accent for so long has made me realise just how beautiful it is. I walked through the door leading down to the plane...I turned suddenly before turning to my right and walking down the long stretch. Edward was still standing there, he blew me a kiss and he mouthed an 'I love you'.

A sob escaped my abdomen as I mouthed 'I love you' back...Edward looked like he was in real pain and I didn't think it was possible that I could be hurting anymore at this moment. I turned to the right and made my way to the plane door holding back my tears the entire way.

I sat down in my seat and fastened my seat belt...I brought my knees up onto the seat and wrapped my arms around them...I put my head on my knees and let out all my tears.

I was saying goodbye to the love of my life.

That is what Edward will always be..

My only one and true love....Forever for as long as I live and even until after I die.

**In 'Consumed with fire and water' I used the prologue to describe what the story was about..However with this one just by reading this I would like you to guess. This story WAS going to be an Emmett/Bella story but I enjoyed writing 'A Misshapen Life' so much with Edward/Bella that I couldn't risk not having them pair up again.**

**I do not know yet whether I will be doing an Emmett/Bella pairing...If I did then Bella would have been paired up with ALL of the Cullen brothers but then again it wouldn't be such a loss if Emmett belonged ONLY to Rosalie .**

**So...This story WILL start when I finish EITHER 'Consumed with fire and water' or 'A Swan's Melody' when I put it back up... I am struggling with TWO stories on the go as it is ! But I love writing so much I can't bring myself to care.**

**Thanks for reading and ALL your support!**


	2. A New Place

**Hello everyone!**

**This is where the party begins (in France of course!) :D. ENJOY!**

*~La Pomme D'Amour~*

**Bella**

_Oh god someone save me!_

_I don't speak French an exception being L'anglais...How am I going to survive now?!_

_Well you have got your wish parents...I am officially terrified and I do not know what the hell I have supposed to have done to get sent to another country._

_I am well and truly alone._

Fighting back all the tears as I clambered through the gathering crowds of 'Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport' if that is even how it is spelt...All I could hear was gibberish and if I felt alone before in England...This did not compare or even scratch the surface of describing loneliness. The speed of my walking would probably result in some bruises in the morning...I had been lucky in one way that my suitcase was one of the first to come out on the carousel but now...I had nothing and no one that would be able to help me...If I lived in France I would prefer to speak my own language as well so...Being English was going to be my downfall.

I couldn't look around...I didn't want to look at anything but the floor ahead of me...My casual bag was over my shoulder and my suitcase was trailing behind me on its wheels...I was out of breath already and the exit was even in eye distance. I had no interest in seeing the strange world around me and the new world that I would be entering into as I was scared enough already and the fear was proving to be too much to cope with.

The only time I allowed myself to look up was when I found a sign that was indicating the direction of the exit and that was not very often...It seemed like it would take me days to get out of here if I ever did manage to get out.

I am Bella by the way...Bella Swan. I am English (well as you might have gathered)...I wish I could fully explain why I am here...In FRANCE...At one of the AIRPORTS...I do not really know myself. The only thing I know is that my parents don't want me anymore..I believe that they used the words 'underachiever' and 'slob'...That and loads of other words and curses that I will NOT name. Truth is, I am none of these things...I was trying to find my way in the world...I still do not know what I want to do and that didn't seem good enough for my parents.

Is it true what they say about how your parents have to be the people you trust because you can't pick your friends...I would pick my friends over my parents any day of the week! Life is fine for my mum and dad because they are at the top of their jobs..My mum is a scientist and my dad is a solicitor and as a family we were all well known and respected if that is the best word to use...I could never stand growing up because everyone seemed to have had this preconceived idea of me before they had even got to know me properly.

Now I was twenty and living in a strange country that I only knew one word of the native language...Somehow I didn't think I was going to be able to survive after tonight and that scared me...More than anything else in the world in scared me.

I took a large sigh of relief as I approached large entrance doors...I pushed my legs harder underneath me even though the pain was now beginning to be a real setback...I got passed the last set of people before stepping out into the night air around me.

I let the tears fall as I looked around the quietness and unnatural atmosphere of my new world..All I could hear was what I presumed to be French..If no one spoke English five minutes was going to be too long for me to last. I made a mental note to learn the language as much as I could if I ever got round to finding the exact whereabouts of the place I was supposed to be staying at.

I took in another large breath of the fresh air...It was cold but being in the airport for so long and also squeezing into the confined space of an airplane seat..The fresh air was all quite welcoming. The air I mean not so much the new surroundings...I leant against the wall of the airport and reached into my bag pulling it across my side more to reach the zip...I buried around the bottom and my fingertips grazed what I was looking for.

I took out my box of cigarettes and my lighter and lit up...There were probably about ten people around me outside of the airport and they were all smoking so...I guess it would seem weird if I didn't...Just stand there like a lemon didn't seem much of a good plan at this moment. I took my first drag and threw the box and lighter away in my bag...I was going to pull out my piece of paper which held my cousin's address on it but I figured as the air was clear...I would walk somewhere...If I had to sleep on a bench for the night then, fine.

I kept my direction straight even though I had no idea where I was going to go.

Paris was unusually quiet..I had always thought that it was a city that never slept...I saw the Eiffel tower in the distance and knew that I was no longer in England...I carried on walking ahead not bothering to take in the sights. I just needed to have a sit down..I didn't care where.

I approached what looked like an open landscape space fifteen minutes into my journey...If it can be called a journey I would say it was a whim. The space was empty of people but there were lots of benches in it...I made my way over to the first bench I could get to my hand numbing on the case from the cold air. I sat down pulling the suitcase next to me covering my hand with my coat sleeve..With my free hand I took out another cigarette as well as the small piece of paper that held the address of my new home.

I looked over my writing intently and sighed..._How the hell was I going to find this place._

The house belonged to my cousin Maureen, I say she is my cousin but in actual fact she is my third cousin on my mum's side...Probably the only other family I have as we have never conversed with my father's side of the family nor the rest of my mum's..As a family we were a quiet set of people however that was always doomed to be a struggle because of the fields that both my parents worked in..Everyone knew everyone and there was no secret left untold by outsiders.

I kept my focus on the floor letting the silence be a small comfort..I was shaking badly and it wasn't just because it was cold..I was also so very scared about all of this and seeing as I was no longer at home I did not have any shame in showing how I was feeling.

"Excuse me... Parlez-vous anglais?" I turned around and saw a young man addressing me...I looked around quickly from side to side...That was weird he didn't seem to have a French Accent like so many crowds of people did.

"Me?" I said pointing to my chest...The guy smiled as he stood in front of me..I remained sitting on the bench.

"English." He stated...I turned my gaze to the floor...I was feeling slightly awkward that a stranger just came up and spoke to me..I was always told to never talk to strangers as a child...I may have to get used to more than just being in a different country.

"It's alright...Don't be scared...You seemed lost...I came over to help" This man definitely had either an American or a Canadian accent – I could never be able to tell them both apart and I still couldn't..I smiled a little relieved slightly that he seemed normal.

"Um..I have this address...I don't know where it is, though" I explained briefly as I held out the piece of paper..The guy took it and looked at the writing.

"Oh...I know where this is. I do not own a car but I'd be happy to walk you there." He replied giving the piece of paper back to me.

"I don't know..." I trailed off...The guy smiled again.

"This is Paris...You need to learn to take risks." He replied...I frowned.

"Taking a risk by speaking to a possible abductor or murderer?" I asked with sarcasm.

"It's nice to meet you too...I'm Edward." Edward held out his hand to me and I looked down once at his hand and back up to his face. "Listen, I am no abductor..I mean the only harm I could really do is take you the wrong way to where you want to go...But I am not like that." I smiled a little.

"I'm Bella" I said.

"Nice name...Here I'll take that...Shall we walk, Bella?" he said as he gestured out to the open path in front of us..I stood up from the bench and walked ahead of him as he pulled out the handle of my suitcase and followed behind me the wheels dragging on the floor as he went. We were definitely in what looked like a park or an open green...I could have sworn it was but you can never be so sure in the dark. "So...Bella where in England are you from?" he asked as we started to walk.

"Oxfordshire" I answered "I wouldn't expect you to know it."

"Sorry, no. How is it that you are here in Paris?"

"My parents kicked me out."

"Of the country?!" Edward said...I laughed a little as his remark because of how true it was.

"No...Out of the house. My distant cousin who lives at that address on the paper agreed to take me in...I had no ambitions in my life and that annoyed my parents so-" I stopped.

"You can't help not knowing what you want to do." Edward remarked.

"Thanks...That is the difference between myself and my parents...I believe in gradual success when they believe that everything should be handed to you on a plate and if you show any signs of struggle then you are not worth the time." I explained...Edward took a deep exhaling breath next to me. "Sorry" I finished...Feeling very awkward that I was giving him everything about me on a plate.

"No..I mean your parents seem to have issues."

"Tell me about it. So do you live here?"

"Yes. I live with three other roommates...I mean it's not ideal but I am happy."

"Roommates... What about your family?" I asked.

"Oh...I have no family...They died a couple of years ago..Both my parents anyway and I am an only child."

"Oh god...I am sorry"

"It's all good...Not good that they died because I miss them like hell but Paul, Jacob and Sebastian..Those are my roommates by the way...They offered me a place to crash as they have been living here for about three years now. Sebastian is a born Frenchman and Jacob and Paul met him on a vacation once that they took together. So as I could no longer bear to live in the house and being at home wasn't my only option I took their offer. It's not all bad...I haven't lost everything."

"That's true...I wish I could have that attitude."

"It's not really an attitude but more like belief...I believe that bad things have a good curve..A silver lining if you like."

"I am too passive" I stated.

"What?"

"Oh sorry...Um I am too negative about things."

"You shouldn't be...You look like you're a kind of girl who could grab the world with both hands if she could."

"If only that were true. Hey, Edward?"

"Yeah" he answered.

"I really need the loo" I stated.

"Who's loo?" he was joking but I giggled anyway trying to keep the humiliating circumstance of peeing myself at bay.

"Um...Rephrase...I need the bathroom" I said picking up a saying I heard on an American TV show once..Edward smiled.

"Ah..Well you're in luck" he pointed ahead of him and there was a large fountain straight ahead that was also used as a roundabout on the circumference for the road users...Ahead of that there was a small row of shops all lit up brightly under the contrasting darkness of the night sky. It was beautiful...I had to be honest with myself.

As Edward and I reached the fountain he put my suitcase down so it was upright...He reached inside of his pocket and pulled out a coin...He then held it out to me.

"Make a wish, Bella" he said.

"I do not believe in wishes" I replied shaking my head.

"This fountain is believed to be magical" he stated..I fought back a laugh.

"If I say yes..Will you let the next discussion of magic die before we start?" I asked sarcastically.

"Of course" he replied, smiling...I rolled my eyes and took the coin from him.

I closed my eyes.

_I wish to find love and be happy again._ I threw the coin over my shoulder and it landed with a small popping noise to the fountain floor. I turned around at Edward who was doing the same however he had thrown his coin out in front of him inches away from my shoulder.

"Not to...You know keep you out here all night but..My roommate Sebastian is the manager of a bakery over there" Edward stopped and pointed at a small lit up shop on the row. "Would you like to use his-"he cleared his throat "loo" he finished.

"If that's okay"

"You never need to ask to use a public toilet, Bella."

"Um..Okay sure" I said stepping down from the fountain steps..I reached for my suitcase but Edward took his hand out and pushed my own away.

"I will take this" he said grabbing the suitcase before I could protest...I followed him over the street to the shop..Edward opened the door the heating hitting me from the door breeze from inside. He held it for me.

"After you mademoiselle" he said...I stepped in and waited for him to close the door. I then followed him into the main seating area.

The bakery was sweet almost like the small cafes you find in England...A man behind the counter immediately waved at Edward as he walked in.

"Edward...Nice to see you my friend" the man said enthusiastically...I followed Edward to the counter keeping my eyes away from the delicious and mouthwatering pastries and cakes through the see-through glass. "Who is this?" he acknowledged me...There was something oddly intriguing about his accent..it wasn't very strong but he seemed to have a good grasp on English..In all honesty I was pleased to have been able to understand him.

"This is Bella...Bella this is Sebastian" I smiled at Sebastian...He reached over the counter and took my hand placing a light kiss on the top of it.

"Enchanté" he said...I could feel my blush heat my cheeks as I took my hand away from his hold.

"She wants to use the toilet" Edward stated...Sebastian beamed.

"Of course Mon cherie...Just over there to the left" Sebastian said...I left Edward alone with the suitcase as I went to the door leading to the ladies toilet.

*~Edward~*

I watched Bella go as Sebastian cleared his throat...I swung back round to face him.

"What?" I asked.

"She is..er...how you say very pretty, Edward...Where did you find her?" Sebastian asked...I rolled my eyes.

"I didn't find her..She was lost just walking around on her own and I offered to help." I replied.

"Ahh how very kind of you" Sebastian said...He had a glint in his eye which meant that he was thinking far too much and no doubt getting the wrong impression. I scoffed.

"Don't get any ideas, Seb" I warned him.

"Oh Edward it has been too long that you have had a lady friend...I see romance in the air, huh?"

I rolled my eyes....The French and their views on love..Always so good and uncomplicated so very unlike my own views and possibly Bella's too.

"No..Just a friend, Seb" I answered firmly.

"Yes well do not make me say I told you so when you fall in love".

"While I am here...Can I get two iced buns?" I changed the subject quickly...I didn't want to make myself look like a fool anymore.

"For you...Only the best" Sebastian grabbed a paper bag and I waited patiently as he forked out two iced buns from the display and popped them in. He was rolling the bag up as Bella made her way back out.

"All better?" I asked.

"Yes thank you" she answered with a smile. I took the bag from Sebastian.

"I will see you later" I said walking out of the entrance door.

"Of course Mon amie...It was a great pleasure to meet you, Bella" he shouted.

"You too" Bella said as she followed me out into the night again.

*~Bella~*

"Here...I got this for you" I turned and stopped as Edward gave me the bag that he had given Sebastian.

"What is it?" I asked studying the bag.

"The finest iced bun you will ever have" he answered...I frowned.

"You didn't have to pay for this, Edward."

"Seeing as I am a friend..I earn discount..Free." he answered proudly..I took the bag from him and opened up the twisted top. I took a bun out and gave the bag back to Edward.

"So is it customary in France to eat iced buns at night?" I asked taking a bite the icing sticking to my lip.

"No...But it doesn't hurt" Edward took out the last bun and threw the bag in the bin nearby...He didn't miss which was rather impressive. He grabbed my suitcase again with his free hand and held the bun in the other..We then carried on walking and eating through the quiet streets of Paris.

We reached a small street which was secluded by the hustle of the main city square that we had left...It had taken around half an hour in total to get to where we were now and my feet were beginning to feel the effects. Luckily I had already finished my bun..I do not think I could deal with indigestion AND sore feet.

"Here it is" Edward said stopping in front of a terraced house..It looked small but it definitely held a lot of character.

"Oh..Thank you so much" Edward released the handle on the case and walked over to me.

"It's my pleasure, Bella. Now I know where you live I hope that you will come out with me again..In the daytime...I would like to show you the sights of your new living environment." Edward explained.

I smiled appreciatively "that would be great...I will see you soon, then" I said as I walked over to the case...I pushed the handle down that I used to wheel it and picked the case up with the MAIN handle at the side.

"Take care, Bella" he said as I opened the gate and over to the doorstep.

I knocked on the door three times and waited. I turned around to see that Edward had already disappeared.

I found myself smiling for the first time in weeks...I had made a new friend.

**Short and sweet for this chapter.**

**It WILL get more detailed and hopefully have some much needed drama soon **

**Thanks for reading!**

**.S.**

**X x x**


	3. Acquaintances

**Thank you to 'Devil Nightmare' and '****vampyregirl86****' for their reviews! :D**

**Here is chapter three for you. **

**I listened to 'Moi Lolita' by Alizee whilst writing just to get in the French mood ****!**

*Bella*

When no one answered my knock...I was shivering very badly now as the air around me had dropped in temperature..I twisted the handle of the door with some difficulty due to both the movement of my hands but also the numbness that surrounded every pore of my skin...I managed to kick the stiff door open by using my foot a little at the bottom...I picked up my case and put that in the house first before stepping inside and closing the door so as not to let the warmer house become affected by the contrasting air temperature outside.

I looked around at what was in front of me and I couldn't help but feel a little surprised...The house from the outside looked small but I was currently in what looked like a front hall and the decor was light and warm...A beige colour, the banister to the staircase in the middle near to the far end of the hall was wooden...I do not know any wood types nor do I know the difference between them. I stumbled into the middle of the hallway leaving my case by the door..I had a door to the right of me and one to the left of me...I hesitated before picking the left one. The sight of bookshelves was the first thing to appear when I edged the door open slowly...Creaking increasing as the door opened further. I bit down on my lip and looked around to the right side of the room...There was a large armchair turned away from me looking out onto the dark French night through a large old-fashioned designed window.

I stepped across the creaky wooden flooring but stopped when the vibrations of the loudest sound in the floorboard stopped me. I heard a small bang and someone got up from the armchair...Spinning around in speed due to my once-silent entrance.

"Who are you?" It was a woman...No more than thirty studied me...I swallowed loudly and took a silent breath in.

"My name is Bella Swan. I am here to see Maureen." I stumbled on my words but they were recognisable.

"Ah...We have been expecting you." She said...A small smile appearing on her face.

"I am sorry about coming in like this...I did knock on the front door." I explained but the woman in front of me but a hand up gesturing for me to stop.

"I should apologise...A doorbell is going to be installed but the company Maureen inquired for said that they would be here within a week and that was a month ago."

"Oh" I replied...Not really knowing what to say...How was I to know about doorbells? Or owning a house for that matter.

"Yes..Anyway my name is Ellie...I am an ex-carer of Maureen...I just pop around every now and then and stay with her in the evenings until she goes to bed....You are very welcome to go upstairs and see her."

"Um...Could you please show me the way? I had a bad enough time trying to get the hang of the surroundings outside" Ellie giggled.

"How silly of me...Of course. I assume that you have brought some things with you."

"Yes my case is by the door and I have this bag" I gestured to my bag which had remained on my shoulder since I got off the plane.

"Follow me, Bella" she said walking past and ahead of me out the room...I turned and walked back into the hallway..I watched Ellie as she took my case and made her way to the bottom of the staircase..When she got there she turned to me.

"It's okay little one." She said assuringly...I nodded and followed her up the stairs..It was a small relief to be standing on carpet instead of creaking wood this time...There was only one floor and the landing had five doors that led around in a square shape. Ellie pushed the handle down on the first door we reached and I stayed still on the landing however I could hear voiced from inside.

"Bella Swan is here, Maureen" I heard Ellie say.

"Do allow her in, Ellie dear" a voice replied...I still recognised it...After all these years without seeing her and by only conversing with her through written letters. The sound of her voice sent butterflies through my stomach..I was anxious about seeing her after so long but I was also excited.

Ellie came back through the door and out in front of me on the landing...One of her hands which had been occupied with my case just moments ago was now empty..I assumed that it must be in the room where she had just come from.

"I will be downstairs if either you or Maureen needs me, Bella" she said walking past me down the stairs again.

I took another deep breath and tiptoed into the room.

There she was...My third cousin the only change in appearance being the aging of her skin and the greyness of her hair...She was wearing a pink dressing gown and fuzzy slippers as she stood at the foot of her double bed beaming.

"Bella, darling" she exclaimed...I smiled feeling the tears in my eyelids.

"Hello Maureen" I replied.

"Look at you...Come and give me a hug!" I walked over to her and as I was inches away from her she gripped my shoulders and wrapped her arms around my back..She let out a sigh of contentment as she rocked me slightly from side to side. I buried my face into her shoulder and rested my hands on her shoulder blades. "I have missed you" Maureen whispered.

As we pulled apart she caressed one of my cheeks with her hands. "I always said to your parents you were going to be a beauty" she soothed..I scoffed adding a smile.

"Thank you for doing this." I said.

"Oh darling...I have never agreed with my cousin's decisions as a parent..When both your parents expressed that they required you to learn new things and maybe gain a new perspective on life I jumped at the chance to have you live here with me." She explained...If only my parents were as nice as her! My life would be a whole lot easier.

"France is beautiful" I stated.

"Did you have a hard time getting here?" she asked releasing her hand on my face and turning away from me to walk back around her bed to sit on it.

"No..I had some help" I answered. Maureen tapped the foot of her bed in the empty duvet space and I sat down on one side...Both my feet firmly on the ground.

"Help?"

"Yes...It was someone...A new friend." I stammered.

"It seems I shall have to meet this _friend_."

"Maybe" I said laughing off the nervousness of having to invite Edward in to see my cousin when I barely knew anything about him myself.

"Well...I think we shall have to leave all the details for tomorrow...Your room is the last door at the end...There is another door directly opposite your bedroom door on the other side of the banister railing..That is your bathroom. I would accompany you but I have had a busy day...I am also not as young as I once was." Maureen explained.

"Of course...I understand. Thank you" I said appreciatively getting up from the bed and taking my case.

"It is nice to have you here at last, Bella" Maureen said to my back...I turned stepping out into the corridor clutching the door handle with my free hand.

"I look forward to being here, too" I replied genuinely as I closed the door hiding her from view. I then tiptoed across the landing and reached the door that I had been directed to. I opened the door by the handle.

I sighed happily at what was going to be my new room...There was a large double bed in the middle with cream duvet sheets and pillows...A large net trailed along the back and the sides of the bed as it hung above the bed on the ceiling. There were two bedside tables with matching lamps on and a white wardrobe in front of me to the left of the room. There was a small chest with a television and a small collection of books pulled together by white bookends. I picked up my case and put it down on the bed opening up the zip.

I used the free time I had left of the night to unpack all of my things and putting them into the storage places assigned to me for the duration of my stay here. I was clearly being made to feel comfortable by my third cousin and I was very happy for it.

***(Next morning)***

I ate my breakfast on my own as Maureen had to run a few errands with Ellie..She had left before I had hunted for my own breakfast and made it. The French bread was too delicious and far too tempting..I had two slices but immediately wanted seven. I washed away my plate and put the lid back on the jam jar and placed that back in its original place in the cupboard.

As I was about to walk back upstairs to my room there was a very faint knock coming from the direction of the front door. I walked across the wood and opened the handle having to pull harder on it because of the stiffness. Edward was standing on the doorstep smiling at me.

"I think it is time for another day of fun, don't you?" he said.

"My cousin will be back soon. Anyway I do not want to say that I will be out gallivanting around another country all day without anything helpful to do." I explained.

"Nice to see that you LIKE spending time with me!" Edward teased..I rolled my eyes.

"Edward..I didn't mean that" I replied.

"What if I was to say to you that I already have a job lined up for you."

"Edward...You have done enough-" I protested.

"I wanted to do it...Anyway you do not have to take it..It is there if you want it" Edward broke me off..I sighed.

"So..What exactly are we doing? I have no money...Only English pounds which here are useless." I finished.

"There is a place where you can exchange money...For now, leave everything to me." Edward replied.

"Edward-"

"Bella just stop...I would never have come back here to see you if I didn't want to spend time with you...Anyway Sebastian forced me."

"Sebastian forced you?!" I repeated attempting to fight off a laugh.

"Yes...He has his reasons." Edward replied...He grinned cheekily the whiteness of his teeth starling me slightly.

"Oh well...I suppose that is alright, then" I shot back sarcastically.

"Like I said...Take risks,Bella." He stated...I thought for a moment.

"Okay...I need to be back here soon, though. Wait here and I will go and write a note." I closed the front door before he had time to answer me and ran into the house. I grabbed a piece of paper from a pad I came across as I was browsing where everything in the kitchen was kept. I found a pen tied to the wiring of the pad on a string and pushed the lid down to reveal the biro nib. I scrawled down that I had gone out and that I would be back before dark...Also that there was no need to worry as I was being looked after. I had experience from Maureen's panic and worry about the whereabouts of her family when I was a child and I do not imagine that it has changed now I am older.

I took my coat off of the coat rack that I had put it on before going to bed last night...I ran both hands through my hair making sure that it wasn't tassly or knotty...I opened the door again and stepped out to join Edward.

"So Christopher Columbus...Where are you taking me?" I asked.

"Nowhere in particular..I want you to first meet my other roommates, Jacob and Paul who are at home for the weekend."

"I really don't think-" I started to protest.

"Sebastian has expressed how much you have made an impact on him..He was on his cell all night last night talking to our roommates about it."

"Should I be worried?" I asked wearily.

"Worried about people liking you?"

"Edward!"

"Relax, Bella...Nothing is going to happen to you..I swear."

"Okay" I answered...He gestured for me to walk ahead of him across the street..Everything looked so different in the daylight it was almost like the world I had been in last night had everything different to the world now...There was one obvious exception and that was that both the worlds included Edward.

After about fifteen minutes we reached the same fountain we had made wishes upon the night before...Also the row of shops one that had belonged to Sebastian as manager. There were two men in front of us on the furthest side of the fountain circle embracing rather sweetly..I gazed upon them. I was never going to be homophobic and I believe in true love in every form and way that there is...However I had always found myself to have a curiosity about relationships within people of the same sex – not curious in a judgemental way but more of an interested way...Without wanting to search for love in the opposite sex myself.

"Hey...Smoochers!" Edward bellowed...The two guys turned..One smiled and gave him the middle finger keeping the other hand on his partner's waist, the other stuck his tongue out but kept his head firm on the side of his partners neck his arms locked around his partner's waist, also.

I bit down on my lip as we approached them...I stopped as I reached the small step of the fountain..Edward moved on ahead of me greeting the two men. I looked down at the floor and kicked one of my feet out to the side as I attempted to not feel nervous about meeting more new people.

"Bella?" I lifted my head as Edward called my name..He gestured for me to walk towards him..I obeyed minding my step on the moistness of the step from the sprinkling water. I stepped down onto the road away from where the cars came from opposite directions. The two men smiled at me. "This is Jacob and Paul...My roommates" Edward stated...I nodded at them. Jacob and Paul pulled apart and each shook my hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Bella." One of them said.

"I am sorry..Who is who?" the men smiled.

"I am Jacob" the man who just greeted me said...He was dark almost Italian looking in skin tone and hair colour..He must have had some Italian blood through heritage but nothing like that could be made definite. He was handsome...Pleasingly so with a dazzling smile..A smile that you couldn't help but return when it was given and directed to you.

"I am Paul" Jacob's partner said...Reaching his hand out to me as Jacob took his away...Paul was much lighter, he had fair colourings in both skin and colourings...He was also appealing in looks even though they both in appearance completely different. I took my hand away and tightened it to my side as I finished shaking Edward's roommates hands.

"She is a beauty...Sebastian wasn't wrong" Paul remarked..I looked down and clenched my teeth together inside my mouth. I had never seen myself as anything above average..I was self-concious in certain areas about not only my physical body but the person I am...I guess I had never been called beautiful enough to appreciate myself as I should do. However coming from strangers the compliments were not so welcoming...With Maureen it had been different as she was a member ofmy family..Everything about me had been evident to her at some point warts and all.

"Paul, don't embarrass her" Edward warned.

"She shouldn't be embarrassed...People who are embarrassed about being complimented are people who have not been told how great they are." Jacob added.

"Sebastian said he wanted us to pop in for an espresso..Whatever that is. Would you care to join us, Bella?"

I lifted my head as Paul mentioned my name...I looked at Edward hesitantly and back at Paul again.

"Um sure" I answered gaining a smile.

"Come on gorgeous...You must be bored of Edward by now" Jacob grabbed my hand and pulled me into his chest...He took his hand out of mine and wrapped it around my shoulder..I was nervous under his hold but went along with it anyway. Paul waited behind and walked along with Edward behind us.

About two hours later...Paul and Jacob had to leave Edward and I at the cafe to go back home...They had offered Edward to come back with them but he declined. Standing back at the fountain I was feeling the effects of having two cakes in the cafe as well as four cups of Espresso.

"So...How is your cousin?" Edward asked as we sat on the fountain's edge looking out at the road in front of us.

"She is very welcoming...Almost too nice." I replied honestly.

"Families are supposed to be nice" he stated and I nodded.

"I guess I am not used to it that's all."

"Your parents...What do they do?"

"My mum is a scientist and my dad is an accountant" I answered.

"Oh jeez...Now I know what you meant about your parents not liking to see weakness or struggle."

"You remember that?" I asked sceptically

"Sure..I remember everything about last night...I had fun."

I smiled at his honesty. "Doesn't someone as nice as you have a girlfriend waiting for you?"

"No"

"Oh, I didn't mean-" I started nervously.

"It's fine" he replied with a smile "I did have one but that was before I moved out here" he finished.

"I see"

"What about you, beautiful?" he asked...I rolled my eyes as he finished on the word beautiful.

"Please stop saying that."

"Why should anyone stop saying that someone is beautiful?"

"Someone who gets embarrassed" I stated in reply.

"Bella...Believe me, Paul, Jacob and I...Even Sebastian would never say anything they wouldn't mean."

"Change the subject, please Edward?" I pleaded.

"Okay. What do you wanna talk about?"

"How long have Jacob and Paul been together?" I asked.

"Oh...Before they knew me. I do not remember the exact amount of time, though"

"Oh...They seem happy."

"They are...It's cool that they can be themselves and never have to worry about what other people think."

"I agree"

"Listen...This is going to sound really strange and you do not have to answer me...Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Curious, that's all." He replied.

"Yes..A long time ago"

"Bad break-up?"

"No..Bad person...Lots of emotions..All the bad things ended up weighing more than the good. That sort of thing." I explained.

"I am sorry to hear that."

"It's fine...You live and learn sometimes the hard way which is for me, becoming to be a habit."

"You have a choice now, Bella...You can stay out a bit longer with me or I can walk you home."

"What time is it?" Edward lifted up the right sleeve of his top and studied his watch for a moment.

"It is half past three" he answered.

"We have been out for THAT long?!" I exclaimed.

"Time flies when you're having fun" Edward replied and I smiled.

"You know I would stay with you given the choice but...I do not want Maureen to worry." I answered.

"It's cool, Bella...I understand" Edward stood up and held out his hand to me..I took it as he pulled me up..I shook out my legs. Edward never released my hand as we walked back the now what was starting to become familiar to me route back to Maureen's.

"Don't you think that it's weird..How two people can become friends so quickly?" Edward said as we walked through the various streets back home.

"No...It's surprising but no, I don't think it is weird. Why do you think that what WE have is weird?"

"No..I just find it strange that the very moment I walked in the park in the outside green before I had even saw you sitting on that bench...I was wondering whether I was ever going to get other friends besides my roommates. Do you believe in fate?"

"I have not had much experience in fate." I answered truthfully.

"Would you call our meeting fate...You were wondering how you were going to ever find your cousin's house and along came someone who knew."

"I guess"

"Sorry it's a weird topic."

"It's fine...It's nice to be able to feel comfortable around a person"

"I agree"

"Wait...I have told you quite a bit about myself...If you tell anyone then I will have to seriously kick your arse."

"That won't be necessary, Bella...I will never say anything." He answered.

How was I feeling a sense of security around Edward after only knowing him for a day...Could you truly believe someone after such a limited amount of time being around them?

There was something about Edward...I was not yet able to pinpoint it...He just seemed to me to be like a person who cared about people...Who had the real sense of caring in his nature and the potential to love someone with all of his heart. By losing both his parents he had gone through a real tragedy and it was heartbreaking that someone as caring as him would have to go through such a hardship in his life.

Edward looked like he was going to be a good friend, even if I went back to England I would make sure that I remained in contact with him for as long as possible.

Edward and I reached the house...I stood on the step and turned to face him.

"Thank you for today, Edward" I said smiling.

"You're always welcome, Bella" he answered.

I was about to say goodbye to him when the door opened startling me and almost causing me to fall off the step completely. I looked into the eyes of Ellie.

"Bella...I heard voices...Do come inside and bring your friend with you" she said...Ellie had that glint in her eye that surged panic through my stomach..I shot her a glare but she turned on her feet and left the door open. I sighed and turned around to Edward.

"I am sorry, Edward" I said...He shook his head.

"Don't be..I would like to meet your cousin" he stated honestly...I turned around and walked into the house holding the door with both hands as Edward walked in kicking off his shoes and putting them neatly to the side...I closed the front door and did the same with my own. I then walked into the kitchen to the right and found Ellie and Maureen sitting down at the table opposite one another. I bit down on my lip and heard Edward come in behind me.

"Hello darling...Did you have a good day?" Maureen asked me.

"Yes...Thank you" I answered my voice shaky from nerves.

"Don't just stand there, Bella...Introduce us to your friend" Ellie said...I clenched my teeth...I wanted to run away right then and there...Or at least hide my face.

"My name is Edward...Edward Masen" Edward said before I could even open my mouth let alone speak. Ellie stood up from the chair and pulled Edward over to the table...All three of them were now in front of me...I stood there gawking at them unable to move.

"It's a pleasure, Edward" Ellie said shaking his hand in hers...She then looked over at Maureen. Edward lent over the table slightly and held his hand out...Maureen smiled at took it firmly.

"Thank you for looking after Bella, Edward." My cousin said.

"It was my pleasure" Edward replied...I smiled inwardly at the genuine and honest voice of my new friend..Everything he said, he said it from his heart and those kinds of people were extremely hard to find.

***(Later)***

After watching Edward getting to know my cousin and Maureen knowing more about Edward...I walked him out of the kitchen and to the front door...He climbed back into his shoes and turned to face me as he stood on the doorstep.

"Your cousin is great, Bella" he said.

"Thank you...You seem to have made a large impression of your own..I will be hearing a lot about it after you have gone."

"You will have to tell me all about it" Edward teased.

"Why...Are you planning on seeing me AGAIN?!" I shot back...If Edward was going to tease me then I will give it back.

"That hurts, Bella" Edward added sarcastically.

"Good"

"Seriously...Are you free on Sunday? I have to work tomorrow and I am on an all-day shift"

"What do you do? I never realised you had a job"

"I am a waiter...Of a restaurant away from the town square. It's only certain days but it helps with rent." Edward answered.

"Oh. Sunday should be fine...I will have to check on what Maureen is doing but otherwise sure I would like to spend the day with you."

"Great..I will see you Sunday, then Bella."

"Bye, Edward" I said watching him walk across the street and away round a corner to the left. I closed the door and saw Ellie staring at me.

"He is a good one...Don't let him go, Bella" she said reaching behind me to open the door...I walked away from her and back down the hall ignoring her comment and hearing the door close as I walked into the kitchen. Maureen smiled.

"If you are going to say that I have been lucky in finding him...Don't. We are just friends" I stated putting that possible topic to rest.

"I wasn't going to say anything...He is very nice, a gentleman...They are hard to find."

"I know. He has been a good help to me...I hope one day to return the favour." I replied.

"Yes...You were always good like that." I sat down and put my head in my hands sighing deeply. "I don't know what I have supposed to have done to my parents...I am not what they say I am."

"I know you're not. You were always trying to please them and you shouldn't need to. You have everything going for you, Bella."

"I wish people could see it that way, as well as myself" I took my hands away and leant on my arms crossing them on the table in front of me.

"You will...One day, you just need time to adapt."

"Being here...I never asked to be sent here."

"No one would ask to be sent to another country unless they were going on holiday...I understand, Bella"

"I don't mean that I am not grateful, Maureen...Really I am to you but...Is it wrong to want to be at home right now even if my parents don't want me?"

"Your parents want you, Bella...They just don't think that you fit into their successful worlds...I can see both their sides and yours what I don't agree with is the way that they have decided to change you."

"Do I really have to change? Must I change?" I asked.

"No you shouldn't need to...In a normal world you shouldn't have to but then again whilst you are still living with your parents you have to live by their rules."

"So what should I do?"

"Love"

"Pardon?"

"Love...Love makes people complete, Bella...It gives one a new found confidence and the ability to love themselves as well as another."

"What if I never find love...I will always be incomplete?" I asked.

"No..Love is not a NECESSITY to be complete...It helps find out who we really are...Without even realising it."

"I don't understand."

"You have never really been in love have you, Bella...Of course you wouldn't understand yet."

"God...Everything just seems so hard."

"How about we take a little sight-seeing trip tomorrow...That is if you are not seeing Edward. I have to say it, Bella...But Edward is exactly the kind of young man that would be right for you...He would treat you kindly and love you unconditionally."

"How do you know?"

"I see things...I see these things in people, I always have done...It does not exist in EVERY member of the opposite sex but once I see it...I am never wrong."

"You want Edward and I to be together, then?"

"No...I did not say that...I said that a TYPE of person like Edward."

I sighed "Yeah..Well I am not holding out hope."

"Do you want to find someone, Bella?"

"Of course I do..What girl doesn't? I just hope that it will come to me rather than my having to wish for it to happen and making myself upset when I still end up feeling lonely."

"Your last boyfriend was an idiot, Bella...He didn't appreciate you for what you are...He didn't see you how everyone else sees you."

"I know"

"Anyway...Who am I to know about the trials of young love and relationships."

"Lots...You have more experience than I do." I replied.

"Well that is where you are wrong, sweetheart. I have only ever had one boyfriend in my life and that was the person I married."

Maureen was married to a man named Albert...They were together for thirty years when he dies unedpectedly about seven years ago of cancer. It hit her extremely hard like it would do anyone who made a commitment to someone for so long...I never got the chance to meet him but I had seen pictures and by appearance they made a very good looking couple.

"You must have seen things, though...Friends going through bad times?"

"Sure...But that doesn't mean that I have as much understanding about what it is like to have my heart broken. At least not by someone who is still living."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay to show me around tomorrow?"

"Sure I can...I may be old, Bella but I am not completely useless."

"Maureen can I ask you something?"

"Ask away" she replied.

"Why is Ellie here most of the time?"

"Oh that..She was my carer and I find myself slowly deteriorating day by day and she is there to help that is all."

"Will she be with us tomorrow?" I asked.

"No. Just us"

"I am not complaining about Ellie...I was only curious."

"I know and you have every right to be."

"Do you want me to help you to bed?" I got up from my seat.

"Would you...That would be so kind?" Maureen answered...I nodded and held out my hand...Maureen slowly got up from the seat and took my hand when she was upright. Maureen flinched as our hands made contact.

"You're cold, baby" she said.

"Sorry...I always feel the cold." I answered apologetically.

"Like your mother" she added...I led her out of the kitchen and I stepped behind her as she climbed the stairs...If she fell then I would be here to support her better than if I were to be in front of her. Maureen managed to get the top and I passed her on the landing to open her bedroom door...she was already in her nightclothes so I wouldn't have to leave her to get changed by herself. I pulled the duvet cover back and held her hand as she stepped into it...I pulled the duvet over her chest as she sunk into the pillows.

"Thank you, sweetie" she said giving me an appreciative smile. I returned it and kissed her forehead.

"Is there anything else you need..Water or anything?"

"No thank you, darling" she replied...I turned off the bedside lamp and successfully got back to the bedroom door again thanks to the moonlight from the large window.

I stepped out onto the leading and walked to my own room..Closing the door behind me...I threw my coat offof my shoulders and put it on a hanger in my wardrobe...I walked out of the room and over to my bathroom.

I washed my face and brushed my teeth in the sink adding a small dab of moisturiser to my dry skin that was now appearing on my face due to the change of the weather in my living environment.

I climbed into bed once I got back to my room...I sunk into the pillow reaching my arm over to turn off my lamp.

I fell asleep instantly before feeling a little excited that Maureen was going to be coming out with me tomorrow...Uninterrupted and peacefully with no one else there but us.

The two of us once again, just like a few times before in my childhood.

**Thanks for reading!**

**.S.**

**X x **


	4. Refusals

**It looks like 'Devil Nightmare and '****vampyregirl86****' will be the death of this story **** in the words of Edward Cullen...Thank you so much to both of you for your support! X**

**Here is Chapter four pour everyone ****!**

**I just thought I would say that this story will have the MAJORITY of Bella's POV because the story is hers...I will have Edward's POV but it won't balance out with Bella's.**

*Bella*

"Bonjour madame...Madamoiselle."

It was amazing how many people seemed to either recognise my cousin or even know her by person...Possibly both. There were many passersby who had taken the opportunity to greet us and I was always shooting my cousin a glance as she held onto my arm as an indication of finding out who most of these people were. The passers didn't know ME...Yet they greeted me anyway and it made a nice change to the mixed looks that both I individually and my whole family got in England. The French seem friendly and I suddenly felt much more at home here since I had first arrived and met Edward.

"So will there be any chance of running into Edward, today?" Maureen asked me tilting her head and her mouth closer to my left ear so that people who may have been able to understand us could not hear our conversation. I rolled my eyes.

"No...He said he had to work...Besides I thought you just wanted it to be us." I replied.

"Of course I do...Edward is a nice boy that is all."

"Maureen...He is hardly a boy."

"Exactly how old is he, then?"

"I don't know."

"You didn't find out his age?!" Maureen exclaimed.

"No...There were other things to talk about." I replied defensively.

"I see...Like what?" Maureen teased. I forced her arm out from around my own and stepped away from her.

"Everyone really needs to stop this...He is a friend...Nothing more...Why won't anyone believe me when I say that?!" I exclaimed wrapping my arms around the sides of my waist.

"Bella...Honestly, this is Paris the city of love...I am merely indulging myself into the mind of a French civilian."

"You are NOT French, Maureen...You are English and so am I...We must allow ourselves to have different views on love...At least the views which are acceptable from where we come from."

Maureen stopped and I joined her...We were standing opposite each other as various street goers were passing around us and between us.

"Bella...Do you want to find love?"

"You know I do."

"Open your eyes, then."

"What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"If you do not know already then I am certainly not going to be the one to tell you."

"That doesn't even make sense" I groaned and rubbed one side of my neck....All this talk about Edward and I being more than just friends was just getting old now...We both know what we are...Friends and we could only ever be friends seeing as we are from two different worlds...Two different countries might as well be two different worlds in my mind.

"You will find out that everything you have ever wanted is right in front of you...Come on, let's go to le patisserie." Maureen took my arm again forcing it away from my waist and gripping it tightly.

Before I could say anything to stop my cousin...We had already walked into Sebastian's cafe..._shit, shit, shit....Maureen doesn't know that I have met him already!_

"Good morning, Sebastian" Maureen said as she beamed a wide smile reaching the counter. Sebastian turned around to face her and sighed holding out both his arms in surprise.

"Maureen ma Cherie...It has been long time!" Sebastian exclaimed...He still hadn't noticed me as his eyes were all for my cousin.

"I am terribly sorry monsieur...I haven't been to well recently but as you can see, I am as right as rain now." Maureen replied gracefully.

"I am very pleased...Very happy to hear this!" Sebastian's eyes fell on me after he had been speaking to my cousin...He switched his eye glare from me and to my cousin, back to me and back to my cousin again.

"How are you, Bella?" Sebastian asked me keeping his stare on my cousin...Maureen swung around to face me.

"You know Sebastian, Bella?" she asked a surprise look on her face. I bit down on my lip.

"He's....I....-" I trailed off shooting a look of help to Sebastian who smiled and nodded once.

"Bella met my best friend and roommate Edward Masen when she first arrived here." Sebastian stated...Maureen turned around.

"Wow you live with Edward...Tell me, this has been proving to be a problem."

"A problem, Madame?"

"How old is Edward?"

Sebastian laughed heartedly...I felt the blush rise on my cheeks and immediately threw my eyes to the floor. "Edward is twenty three, ma'am." Sebastian answered.

"Thank you so very much...Could I get two cappuccinos, please?"

"How do you say...It is...On the house for you today, Maureen...To say welcome back!" Sebastian replied...I smiled down at the floor.

Sebastian was a very kind person...On first impression basis he had scored high with me he just seemed to me to be a fun-loving person who loved what he did and didn't find the need like myself to stretch himself more in the world....Whether or not the English are unsuccessful is not going to be up to me to decide but like so many others I was unable to find what it was I wanted to do...My parents had said that they had already set themselves a five-year life plan when they got to the age of twenty...I however have been sent to another country throwing everything I have ever had out of the window.

"Lets have a seat Bella." Maureen said turning around and giving me a smile as she held two cups balancing on saucers in her hands...I sat down on the nearest small table of two and rested my hands on the table. Maureen joined the table opposite me and lay down my coffee in front of me.

"Since when does France serve cappuccinos?" I asked picking up the cup and blowing on the coffee near to the rim.

"Since a while...Anyway I started on espressos when I first lived here but the caffeine was too much for me. You can't put sugar in espresso anyway because the cup is too small."

"Oh...That makes sense."

"So...Shall we search for some new French clothes for you?" Maureen asked studying my top...I looked down and fiddled with the hem of it with my fingers.

"What is wrong with my clothes?" I asked...A little hurt in honesty.

"There is nothing wrong with them, Bella...It would just make a change that is all."

"You see...I don't like shopping...I never have done." Maureen almost choked on her cappuccino as she put it back on the saucer.

"How can you not like shopping...Every girl enjoys shopping it is the way that we are all built." Maureen exclaimed...I sighed.

"I have never been the same as other girls...What is the point in trying to make an effort when there is no one to share it with." I answered.

Maureen opened her mouth to speak...I guess straight away that she was ready to protest to my remark...Someone cleared their throat before she could speak..I looked up.

"An iced bun for you, Bella" Sebastian said putting down the plate holding the familiar bun with the sticky white icing...My mouth watered but I shook it off. "And a Danish for Madame Maureen." Sebastian finished putting down the stranger looking cake in front of my cousin.

"Dear Sebastian...I did not order these." Maureen said...Sebastian smiled at her.

"No Madame...However Edward told me last night that if I were to...Have my shop graced with yours and mademoiselle Bella's presence then I should give you these."

"It seems like Edward Cullen is soon to become a favourite in my book...Wouldn't you agree, Bella?" Maureen asked shooting me a mischievous glance.

"That is very kind, Sebastian but we couldn't possibly-"

"Edward insisted...He made it clear that I should um...Make sure you eat them." Sebastian broke me off and walked away around the counter. I sighed deeply.

"Oh Bella...He is thinking of you, he is being kind." Maureen said.

"I just don't know how I am going to repay his kindness."

"Does he want his kindness repaid?"

"The English way is to give what we receive." I cursed inwardly at my choice of wording..."I mean we must show others the same treatment they give us."

"I knew what you meant, Bella" Maureen smiled.

"Is Ellie going to be around later?" I asked.

"Honestly...I don't know, most of the time she comes around when I am not expecting her."

"That's not very friendly."

"She is only looking out for me."

"I know...You have said that but you have me, now." I said...Trying to make her see that I would be able to look after just as well as her so-called ex carer.

"Oh darling...You will not be here forever...You have nothing to keep you here for the long-haul. Ellie will be here for as long as I am in need of her."

"You make it sound like I am going to leave you as soon as I gain some perspective."

"No...I feel that you will go when you feel it is the absolute right decision to do so." Maureen replied...I studied the iced bun next to me..Maureen had already eaten half of her cake. "Are you not going to eat that?" Maureen asked.

"No...I have eaten too much sweet cakes...I do not want to put on any weight." I answered.

"Bella..You have NEVER shown weight even when you were a child and you ate entirely too much in one day as an older person would. Go on, eat it."

"No"

"Bella"

"Maureen...I have taken far too much from Edward, already...He keeps giving and it makes me feel worse and worse when I do not have anything to give back."

"It's a bun, Bella."

"It's the principle. I would feel bad." I stood up and took the plate in one hand...I went up to Sebastian who was rolling some flour with a rolling pin...He looked at me and I put the plate on top of the counter.

"Tell Edward when you see him that the offer was kind...But I have to stop taking things from him" I said.

"Bella...You do know that he will be upset when he finds out you have give it back to me." Sebastian's English was very good...However there were words were it was wrong or mixed up in sentences...However I always knew what he meant.

"I am sorry...I can't do it." I walked away from him and back to the table. Maureen gave me a disapproving look.

"Bella...There are not many..._friends..._In this world...Such kindness is rare to find."

"Do you think I don't know that? I am grateful, really I am....I mean I would never have gotten away from the airport if it weren't for Edward."

"Okay...I am sorry...I know I am amking a habit of bringing him up."

"Do you like him that much?" I asked...Sipping the last contents of my cup.

"I do." Maureen answered honestly. "I have something which I would like to ask you about, though?"

"What is it?"

"A box of pills fell from your handbag the other day...They were on the carpet by your bedroom door the morning after you arrived."

_Shit, shit, shit! I have been looking EVERYWHERE for those!! _My stomach clenched in panic...The pills in the box were the subscribed morning-after pill that people took when they didn't want to use condoms for protected sex....Maureen is going to think that I am sexually active..That is what all adults say, anyway. I bit down hard on my lip. "I may be old, but I do know what those pills are, Bella" Maureen added.

"It's not what you think." I stuttered.

"Are you-"

"No...I am not sexually active" I broke her off..Maureen nodded. "I have suffered from really bad skin for about five years now...You weren't there when my skin broke through and so now I take them to keep my acne at bay that is all. You can ring up my father and ask he was the one who pushed me to get it because I was so self-conscious and depressed."

"Oh...That is alright, then...I will give them back to you when we get home."

"Okay."

"If it was for the other reason..I would not have had a go at you – I just want you to know that, Bella." Maureen said.

"Thanks" I answered.

"You ready to go?" Maureen said...I nodded and got up from my chair...I walked around to take her hand and place the other hand on her back to lift her up from the seat. Once she was standing upright and balanced...I took the cups and saucers from the table and put them on the counter...I waved at Sebastian and turned around quickly to take Maureen's arm. I saw her smile at Sebastian as she rested her free hand on my arm and followed me as I led her out of the door.

We stepped out into the square....Maureen stopped before we reached the end of the pavement.

"Last chance...Shopping or home?" Maureen asked.

"Home" I answered immediately. I started to walk pulling her along with me.

"If you will not go out shopping then at least let me get you something ordered."

"No...Please...I still have to get around to changing up my English money." I protested.

"Okay how about if I make you a deal...I order you things in from the catalogue and bring in my seamstress to help you decide."

"You have a seamstress?"

"I have always had one...Even when I was in England...Here, though they can do home visits instead of having to go to shops and filling out the task of clothing."

"Oh...Okay, fine" I groaned in defeat.

"Good!" Maureen said happily.

***(Late Evening)***

The room where I had first seen and spoken to Ellie had become a haven of mine...There were more books down here than there were in my room and I enjoyed having to look out onto the view outside...It wasn't much but it had it's own kind of beauty. I was deeply involved in a book by Flora Thompson named 'Lark Rise to Candleford'....I had been unable to put it down and so I was now determined to finish it as quickly as I could.

The door opened and I looked around in the chair...My body still facing the window.

"Sorry...Bella I just came to say that my seamstress is away on holiday at the moment...She will not be able to come here for another week." Maureen said apologetically.

"Don't worry...That is fine..I have enough clothes anyway even if they may not be much to look at." I replied.

"Is Edward not seeing you tonight?" she asked walking around to stand in front of me blocking the view from the window from my eyes.

"Maureen!" I warned...She put her hands up.

"A simple question" she replied...I shut the book closed and put it on my lap.

"Please...You need to stop this." I said in a slightly stern tone of voice.

"You are my family, Bella...I just want to see you happy."

"If you stop being nosey then you will."

"Okay" Maureen chuckled.

"Did you need anything...I can make you some food if you would like." I asked.

"No thank you my dear...I am off to bed."

"Would you like a hand?" I asked starting to get up from the chair...Maureen put her hand on my shoulder.

"Always so kind...Like your mother. No...Just promise me you will not go to bed late." I sat back down.

"I promise" I answered...Maureen leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"Bonne nuit, Bella" she said...I smiled.

"Sweet dreams" I answered.

I watched her walk past me and close the door behind her when she had exited the room...I opened up my book again and continued to read the pages contently. It was a beautiful night outside...France was definitely more beautiful than England was...Something better that was more appealing about the country than my usual country.

***(Three days later)***

Maureen's health had been slowly deteriorating and there was nothing that I could do about it...She refused to see a doctor and have him examine her...Her bed had been her living spot for the past three days and Ellie had taken it upon herself to visit more often...However she never did anything as I was the one in the house apart from my cousin who was able to cook..I would not call sitting down by the foot of my cousin's bed and reading to her occasionally 'caring'...But what do I know about anything to do with the relationship between Ellie and Maureen.

Maureen had asked for me to get her a tin of special remedies...I have no idea about how she had wanted to use them nor could I say the name on the tin at all.

It had taken me forever to find and had taken me a good three hours of my day to fill out my errand. My feet had been like constant weights and I took some time out in the middle of the day to sit down on the fountain where I had made my wish with Edward my first night in France. This was now my favourite ever spot and it was peaceful just watching cars and people go by as they live their lives the way they should.

I was sipping my take-out cappuccino from Sebastian's cafe however, he was not working today...I assumed that the man must have a day off even if he was the manager. Edward had planned to see me last Sunday however he never came round...I did not hold him to the fact that he was going to meet me at all or set it in stone so it was not a real disappointment..He lived his life and I lived mine however there was a small part of me that missed his company.

A few passers nodded in greeting to me as they threw their coins into the water behind me...I nodded back and smiled, since my day out with Maureen three days ago people seemed to have recognised my face. I was somewhat relieved.

"Hello stranger" I looked up and turned my head to the right...Edward was standing there with his arms in his pockets.

"Hi" I said with a smile...Taking a sip of drink.

"I am so sorry I haven't been able to see you." Edward said..I shook my head.

"Don't worry...It was not set in stone." I replied.

"So you didn't want to see me?" Edward teased.

"I never said that...I have had a long day that is all." I answered a little annoyed.

"Why what happened?" Edward asked as he sat next to me.

"Just been busy" I stated in reply.

"What is that?" Edward was looking at the paper bag in my hand...I bit down on my lip for a moment before answering him.

"Maureen ran out of her favourite herbs I just went to get her some more." It wasn't a complete lie after all.

"Oh...Did you want to do something tonight...I am going away tomorrow for two days for my birthday...I want to spend some time with you before I go." Edward said...I gave me a questionable look.

"Why?" I asked.

"I will miss you...I have missed you for the past three days. Jacob and Paul are great but not as fun as you." Edward said with a smile.

"Well...It's a bit tricky at the moment, Edward-"

"Please, Bella...It will not be for long..An hour or so." Edward broke me off "please?" he pleaded.

"Okay..I will meet you here, though if that's okay" I answered.

"Fine... Did you want me to walk you home?" he asked.

I stood up and kept my hands occupied with my empty foam cup and the bag of herbs...I turned to face him.

"No thank you." I answered with as much of an enthusiastic smile as I could manage.

"I will see you tonight then...Here at around eight."

"Yes...Bye" I turned away from him and blinked away my sudden threatening tears in my eyes..I hated lying to him but then again I couldn't bring myself to tell him the whole truth about Maureen.

Once through the front door I rushed up to Maureen's room dropping my takeaway cup in her bin before approaching her on the bed..She turned her head and smiled.

"Hello, Bella" she acknowledged me softly...I held up the bag. "Oh thank you...Ellie is downstairs will you give them to her, she knows what to do with them." I turned around and out of the room...I stepped heavily down the stairs and into my haven to find Ellie sitting down however she had twisted the chair so that now I could see all of her body in the chair...The chair was facing the opposite way to the window.

"Well hello, Bella...Are those the herbs?" Ellie asked. I nodded. "Good...I will take those" she said getting up and taking the bag from my hands and walking out of the room. I huffed...It was probably wrong of me but I was growing a dislike for Ellie..I mean who was she to my cousin when I was a blood relative. I wanted to look after my cousin myself.

I sprinted out of my haven and to my room...I closed my door and threw myself onto my bed and cried into the pillow muffling my mouth so that no one would be able to see me.

I wanted Maureen to get better...I wanted to spend more time with her and make her feel like I was to be a member of her house for a while...Longer than she or I both imagined.

***(Later)***

Pulling my sleeves further up my wrists I sat down on the fountain edge...I had found it hard to stop myself from crying again as the cool air surrounded me. I twiddled with a strand of my hair with my fingers as I waited on my own underneath the stars and moon in the sky.

I wasn't planning to stay with Edward for long..Even though I would want to stay longer with him if things in my life didn't prove to be an obstacle to what I truly wanted to do. Two hours at the most was going to be my plan.

I gasped when something covered my eyes...I stood up but fell of balance...A hand wrapped across my waist.

"Bella it's me, Edward...It's okay don't panic" Edward whispered into my ear...I tried to slow my breathing down.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he released my waist and tied something on the back of my head...I was in complete darkness now and feeling a little fearful.

"It's a surprise" Edward whispered again...He took my hand and lifted me up from my waist off of the fountain steps...He set me down but kept his arm around my waist and his hand in one of mine as he led me away from the spot.

I had calmed somewhat when Edward kept his hold around me...I felt protected in his arms even though I was blindfolded and probably looked like I was being forced into doing something I didn't want to do by onlookers. There was a warmth that hit my body but I couldn't hazard a guess as to where we were or what Edward had planned. It was about fifteen minutes before the coldness hit me again.

"Edward" I said.

"Okay, stop." Edward said...I stopped my feet...Edward took his hand out of mine and unwrapped his arm from around me. He undid the knot around the back of my head and the darkness slipped underneath my face...I blinked my eyes as the light strained them slightly. Once my vision was clear I looked ahead at what was a rooftop view of Paris...The Eiffell tower standing proud and bright in the middle. I looked a little closer at where Edward and I were standing and saw a dinner table set for two..A dark red tablecloth with three thin stick candles in the centre...In front of the two chairs were silver plates with lids on top of them...I sighed and turned to Edward.

"Edward...I can't." The tears escaped my eyes...He was always so kind to me and I was so unused to anyone being so attentive to me. Edward put his hand on one of my shoulders.

"Bella, what is it?" he asked quietly...Concern in his voice.

"You have been so kind...But I can't keep taking things from you." I choked out my gaze at the floor...Edward put a finger under my chin to lift my eyes up to meet his.

"I do things for you because I want to, Bella."

I shook my head "I am sorry...I have to go." Edward moved his other hand to my shoulder holding me in place. "Please?" I pleaded.

"I find it hard to stay away from you, Bella...The last three days have been torture."

"I am sorry to hear that-"

"Now I am to go away again...Please stay with me?"

"Edward...Don't make me do this...I need to go."

"I don't want you too...I hate being away from you, Bella...You have to know that."

" I do."

"Then stay...For me."

I shook my head. "Please?" he pleaded again...It was proving to be harder and harder to say no to him...His voice was so pure but it had real sadness in it which was heartbreaking. I was about to say no again when Edward's lips suddenly connected with mine...I kept my eyes wide open as he attempted to open my mouth with his..My eyes were about to droop closed when he managed to open both our mouths. His tongue lightly brushed my own and I pulled away from him, hard.

I shook myself out of his hold...I wiped my mouth in shock.

"I am sorry...I just want you to stay" Edward said...I turned away from him and ran back through the nearest doors in front of me the warmth which I had felt blindfolded was a restaurant now I could see. I rushed to the main entrance away from all the gazing people watching me fly past them as they ate and swung open the door to step out into the night. I walked fast straight ahead even though I had no idea where I was or what direction to head towards to get back home.

"Bella..Wait!" I heard Edward shout behind me...I released the tears from my eyes but said nothing as I carried on walking quickening my pace the wind was in my face and hair..Edward had suddenly appeared in front of me and I stumbled to a halt not wanting to stand on his toes.

"I am so sorry, Bella...Really I don't know what came over me. I just wanted to make this night special."

I swallowed hard. "Edward it was beautiful and the whole thing was such a sweet thing to do but I can't accept it...I cannot pay you back."

"I don't want you to pay me back, Bella."

"Well...I believe I should...I would never be able to live with myself if I kept on taking and taking from you."

"You should be looked after, Bella..I do not believe you have had people truly care for you in your life." Edward placed one of his hands on my cheek.

"Edward...We're still friends, right?"

Edward examined my face for a second..."Yes, yes we are" he said quietly. I nodded and sighed in relief. "I should take you home" Edward whispered.

Edward let go of my face and walked beside me on our way home...It was an awkward silence the whole way back..The kind where one of you or both of you have showed your emotions in a silly way and so when you are trying to find something to talk about...You end up with nothing.

We reached the gate to Maureen's and I turned on my heels to face him..His head was down and his forehead lines visual on his forehead. I frowned and stroked his left shoulder as he brought his face back up to mine.

"So I guess I will see you in a few days, then" Edward said looking pained...I nodded.

"Yes..Have a good time." I replied.

"Bella seeing as you will not accept gifts and gestures from me...Can I ask you for something?"

"Yes" I answered.

"Will you kiss me...As a birthday present?"

I swallowed and ran a hand through my hair. "Um..I don't-"

"It will be my birthday and at least give me something to remember you by when I miss you." I swallowed again and nodded...Edward smiled and closed the distance between us, he put one of his hands on my cheeks again and guided his lips to mine enveloping them softly once they were connected. Edward sighed as the vibrations fell against my lips...I brought my hands up to rest around his neck..._What was happening to me?_ Edward brought our tongues together and wrapped his hands around my waist pushing himself into me a little hard....I was getting dizzy as our lips caressed every area of themselves never leaving anything behind. There was no one but us now and it felt strange. I took my lips away from Edward's..He rested his forehead on mine..His breathing also heavy.

"Friends don't kiss like that" I stated in a whisper..Edward sighed contently.

"It was only a present, Bella...One that I am very grateful for." He whispered back taking his hands and his forehead away from me...he took a step back. "Sweet dreams, Bella" he said.

"Good night, Edward and happy birthday." I replied..I turned and pushed the door handle down as I reached the front door and walked into the hall closing it behind me.

I leant against the wall for a few moments...I was confused..That seemed like so much more than something you would basically give to someone when they had a birthday...There was too much emotion in that kiss...Edward was into that kiss and he had kissed me first back at the table and view space...Could he be feeling something for me that he really shouldn't.

The sad thing was that if he did have feelings for me then I do not know how I was going to return them..He was my friend and I do not see him as anything else.

I was not willing to break his heart...It will all be forgotten about by the time he gets back and fingers crossed that Maureen recovers because her being ill is also weighing heavy on my heart at the present moment.

I washed my face in the bathroom once I had climbed the stairs...I got out my most comfortable pair of pyjamas from a shelf in my wardrobe and got out of the clothes I was wearing and climbed into the freeing material of my pyjamas. I turned off my light and climbed into bed.

The last thought I had was of mine and Edward's kiss before sleep overtook me and pulled me under.

**Thanks for reading!**

**.S.**

**X x x**


	5. Changes

**I am SO sorry...I know it has been FOREVER!! College work has been MAJOR and time is very limited at the moment. I lost my knack with this story but now I update again ****!**

**I do NOT own 'Twilight'.**

*Bella*

Maureen was getting worse and it was harder having to sit with her this morning...I felt like she was truly slipping away and I wanted to call a doctor and have him say that there was something that I could do to save her but I knew that she would be angry with me if I had gone behind her back. Ellie wasn't here and I was spending as much time with MY family as I could without having Ellie sticking her oar in where it wasn't needed.

Fair enough I do not know much about living in my own house or paying my own way but I can still look after people...I ever rarely complain about having to do little jobs around the house because Maureen had been nice enough not to charge me rent so I had to give something back.

I took another flannel and soaked it through with cold water in my bathroom before going back to sit on Maureen's bed beside her and dabbing her head with it.

"I am sorry, Bella" she whispered underneath my hold on the flannel.

"What for?" I asked.

"I shouldn't be like this...Especially now that I have finally got you back in my life again."

"Maureen...You can't help it if you are ill...I just wish you would let me call a doctor for you."

"No..A little mistake of a doctor was the reason my husband died...I no longer have any trust for them."

"They might be able to do something."

"Why are you here and not out with Edward?"

"Because you are my family and you are more important...Besides Edward is away."

"I saw you kiss last night"

I stopped my hand on the flannel and took a deep breath in "spying on me, were you?" I asked ringing out the flannel in a bowl on Maureen's bedside table.

"No..It just didn't look like a friendly kiss."

"It was a present...Edward wanted me to kiss him for his birthday and I gave him one, that's it."

"He asked you to kiss him?"

"Maureen...Stop...You need to rest"

"Rest..Schemst...I want to see you happy, Bella."

"I will be happy if you tell me exactly what happened."

I sighed...There really was no way I was going to get out of this. "Fine we kissed."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"I gave you kissed...That is it."

"You don't seriously believe that he just wants to be your friend do you?"

"I'm in a different country...I do not speak the language and every time I am out I feel like a sore thumb...I do not know what to believe anymore."

"So where has he gone?"

"Out for the weekend...His birthday, you know?"

"That's a shame"

"It's no big deal...Besides someone needs to look after you."

"I do not want you spending the weekend looking after me."

"I want to" I ran my hand down her cheek and she smiled.

"Alright, where is she..The little inconvenience?!" Ellie barged through the bedroom and Maureen smiled at her.

"Hello Ellie"

"No what is the matter with you?" Ellie threw her coat down on the bedroom floor and stood on the opposite end of the bed to me, looking down at my cousin.

"I am just having a down day...Am I not allowed to be sick?"

"Not when you have yours truly here to look after you!"

"Bella is here"

"Two pairs of hands are better than one"

"This is true"

"Bella...Be a good girl and make your cousin and me a cup of tea." I frowned and looked down at Maureen..Who nodded once in assurance...I let go of her hand and went down the stairs to make the tea.

Once I made the teas...I put them down on Maureen's bedside table and Ellie pulled me to one side.

"Now I am here, you can go out with your boyfriend."

"Excuse me?"

"Maureen needs someone who can take care of her."

"I can do that"

"You're young, you should be going out and living life."

"Maureen is more important to me right now."

"Come outside with me a moment?"

My dislike for Ellie was getting more and more heightened as I stepped out on the landing, Ellie closed the door behind her. "Now, Bella..I realise you are family but considering your cousin's condition..A professional should be here as a carer."

"No offence, Ellie but you are her EX-carer and to be honest..She was the one who invited me here to live with her."

"It was a wise decision; however...You will feel pointless in this situation."

"Pointless I may be...A medical degree I may not have but I am here for my cousin all the same."

"Sweetie now may not be the time to be answering me back."

"I can do whatever I want."

"Why do you think your parents didn't want you anymore, you are useless."

"Maureen doesn't even like you..She just bears you, kind of like the way I do."

"Ooh and I am so upset that you don't like me...Unlike yourself, I don't have to prove to anyone that I am a nice person."

"How is coddling Maureen nice?!"

"I suggest you leave"

"I am not going anywhere" I stated.

"BELLA!" Maureen's voice boomed from inside of the bedroom door...I ran in with Ellie close behind me to find Maureen panting on the bed, sweat falling from her forehead.

"It's okay...It's okay" I soothed picking up a dry flannel from her bedside drawer and wiping her forehead with it.

"Use a cold one" Ellie said as she held Maureen's hand tightly in one of her own. I groaned..I was in no mood to keep arguing with her. I ran out of the room and into the nearest bathroom soaking the flannel under the cold tap and ringing it out before running back into the room.

"Give me that!" Ellie snatched the material from my hand...I held in a roar from my stomach.

I kept my hand in Maureen's feeling helpless as Ellie worked on her, her pained eyes were staring into mine.

There was truly nothing I could do but make silly attempts to comfort her.

"Bella...I feel lightheaded"

I gripped Maureen's hand tighter "it's ok, just breathe in and out...Nice and slowly.

"For goodness sake, I'll do it...Bella you get a glass of water."

"Excuse me?" I turned to Ellie

"Have YOU had medical training...I don't think so. Water!" Ellie pushed me out of the way and I had nothing to do but to fill out the demand given...Suddenly I felt hopeless and in that hopelessness I needed to see Edward again. NO...I must not think like that!

I sprinted to the kitchen grabbing a pint glass and filled it up with Maureen's filter water and ran back up the stairs watching the water in the glass as I went to make sure it stayed within the confinements of the glass.

Maureen was having a panic attack as I walked in, Ellie had her hands around her shoulders and I almost dropped the glass with the look of agony coming from Maureen's face. How can someone so lovely be so much in pain and there was nothing that I could do to stop it. I put the glass down on Maureen's bedside table.

"Right...I need to call a doctor, Bella stay here with her."

"No, Ellie...Maureen said she didn't want a doctor."

"Would you rather her die?"

"She's dying?"

"She is certainly deteriorating by the second...Stay here!"

"You know you may have been in my cousin's life longer than me, but that does not give you the right to order me around."

"You're her family...Where the hell have you been when she has needed you..Or whether she has just needed a friendly face to say hello to...Who has been here when she has had nobody..ME!"

"How dare you!"

"I don't have time for this...If you love Maureen at all you will stay with her."

Ellie released Maureen gently back onto the bed...Stormed past me and out of the room....I fought the temptation to run after her, or at least push her down the stairs in that moment...Who the hell does she think she is?!

How could my cousin have put up with her for so long...I suppose this is what happens when people are cursed with a nice and forgiving nature.

"Bella" Maureen choked out my name and I grabbed her hand brushing away her hair from her forehead.

"I'm here" I soothed her as her breathing deteriorated slowly.

"Thank you for being here with me" Maureen said quietly...I bit down on my lip, she didn't sound good at all.

"You invited me" I replied

"I know....Thank....Thank you for accepting the offer." Maureen's eyes were closing, I started to panic my stomach clenching tightly.

"No...Keep your eyes open, Maureen....Stay here, the doctor is coming."

"No doctor....I need to sleep."

"Maureen...Not right now, focus on my voice...Keep your eyes on me."

"Bella...Be with Edward....Experience love."

Those were Maureen's last words as she closed her eyes, her body turning completely still underneath me...I moved my hands to her shoulders and shook her gently to try and get her to wake up again....Tears were filling up my eyes as the reality hit me...I grabbed her wrist and checked for a pulse.

There was nothing.

I sunk to the floor releasing my cousin from my hold and covered my mouth with my hands to let out a sob from my stomach...How was this happening?!

I moved to France because my parents had wanted me to...The only security blanket I had was my cousin and now she was gone. How the hell was I going to cope, I have no money and what was going to happen to all of her belongings?

Jesus, everything had just crumbled down on me.

*~Edward~*

(Afternoon)

"You know for a guy who is celebrating a birthday you look like you should be attending a funeral!" I moaned at Jacob's remark.

"Where is Paul, shouldn't you be annoying him?" I teased...Jacob laughed.

"He is probably having some fun with a stranger...You would know all about that wouldn't you. Edward?"

"What are you talking about?"

"A certain English girl by the name of Bella Swan, she is a great girl you know...For someone who is living in a strange country."

"Heeeyy fellas!" Paul came over then, his alcohol clearly taking over his body and his voice.

"Sweetheart, where have you been?" Jacob cooed wrapping his arm around his partner and resting his head on Paul's chest.

"Seeing as this night is not going to be as fun as planned...I just got us tickets back to France...There is a stripper club there."

"Oh 'beau lace'...I have heard of that one." Jacob replied.

"Come on, Edward...Maybe if you're lucky you will run into Bella again."

Paul took my hand and Jacob's.

I was not going to protest against their sudden decision...Anything to with Bella, I was there in a heartbeat.

*~Bella~*

(Afternoon)

"What do you think you're doing?!"

I had come out of Maureen's room after letting out all my emotion about losing her...The doctor had been and gone, as his services were no longer required to try and attempt to keep my cousin alive. Walking across the landing into my own bedroom – I found Ellie rummaging through my things, my suitcase open on my bed and with various items of clothing and my wash things in there already. Ellie turned to face me, a pile of my clothes from my drawer in her arms.

"Ahh there you are...Just saving you a job."

"Job? Why on earth are you packing my things?"

"That is usually what people do when they leave a house."

"What the hell!" I paced to my suitcase and took a load of my stuff out of it and held it in my hands "I am not going anywhere"

"It appears that this would suggest otherwise." Ellie pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and held it up for me to see. "Your cousin was so sweet...She left all of her belongings and her house, to me!"

"What...Where and HOW did you get that?"

"Maureen told me a lot of things, Bella..More than you will ever know. This is what I was expecting...Being family and all....However bitterness is not a nice quality in someone so young."

"How the hell did you manage to pull this one off?!"

"Me...How do you think that I had anything to do with this?"

"Don't act the innocent...You persuaded her to get all of this, didn't you?"

"So what if I did...There is nothing that you can do about it, is there?"

"You're not going to get away with this" Ellie grabbed the things from my hands and put them into my suitcase slamming the lid down and walking out of the room...I followed her down the stairs.

"You have your precious new boyfriend; maybe you can go and stay with him."

"This is my family's house."

"By law...It's mine" Ellie flung the front door open.

"Get out!"

Ellie threw me out of the front door by my arm...I stumbled and fell onto the ground my face hitting the cold stone ground outside Maureen's house..I sobbed as the trail of blood moved from my cheek to my mouth.

"Where the hell am I supposed to go?" I choked out...I tried to lift myself up with my hands but failed.

"I don't care, this house is mine now...Maureen put me in her will and you get NOTHING. Bon voyage!" My suitcase as well as my shoes flew out of the door and narrowly missed me as it too landed on the hard floor. The front door slammed and I sobbed quietly.

Now...I was homeless, it didn't take long for Ellie to snoop around my cousin's house for a will and then send me packing....What was I going to do now?!

I struggled to get up...The blood from my face pouring onto the floor...Ignoring my dripping of bodily fluids, I placed each of my feet into my shoes and picked my suitcase up by the handle. How did I know that all of my stuff was packed? There was no going back now...I would never be allowed in that house again.

I stumbled out of the gate and intentionally left it open...Using my sleeve to wipe away the blood on my face as I kept my gaze down at the stony ground....The streets of France no longer looked as welcoming now there was no home for me.

I walked to the fountain, which had slowly become my favourite place and sat down on the spot where Edward and I first sat together when we met. I put my head in my hands and sobbed the sound of the water behind me drowning my own sound out.

"Bonjour mademoiselle" After about five minutes I lifted my head up to see a man with pale skin and blonde hair looking down at me...His face concerned.

"Êtes-vous bien?" he said...I bit down on my lip.

"Sorry...I don't speak French." I answered...The man smiled.

"I was asking if you were well." He said in a strong French accent.

"Oh..No not really." I replied.

"My name is Carlisle...I own a bar round the corner...Come with me and I will get you a drink."

"Oh that's okay, I am fine here."

"It will be getting cold soon....Come on, let me help you."

"Um..I don't know."

"You can trust me little one." He replied...I stood up.

"Okay...Thank you."

He picked up my suitcase and walked away from me across the square.

Sure this may sound crazy and look like a stupid thing to do...Right now, anywhere was better than outside..I followed him on his heels around the corner into a quiet area of the town.

We approached a dark building and he opened the door for me, I nodded in thanks and stepped inside the warmness of the building surrounding me and soothing my cold aching limbs.

"Come with me, please?"

I followed Carlisle into a set of double doors and into a bar decorated red and oozing warmness and friendliness..I gained a few smiles in my direction as I walked through. A young girl approached us with a tray in her hand.

"Hello, Carlisle" she greeted the man in front of me.

"Lucy...Could you please get this little one a drink whilst I put her suitcase in the back."

"Of course...Come with me" she said to me taking my hand and leading me over to the bar...I sat down on a stool as she opened the flap of the bar and walked through it putting the tray down and leaning over the bar in front of me.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Oh, um" I stammered...This all felt a little too strange for my liking.

"Something strong, you look like you have been through the wars." She answered my question and started rummaging through one of the fridges...I took the opportunity to look around behind me.

There were no tables or seats in the area...Just a massive...Well what looked like a catwalk..What was this place? A nightclub or something?

I snapped the questions out of my mind and focused on the people gathered in a far corner who had smiled at me as I walked in...They had the same colours on as Lucy and it seemed clear that they were also staff members...There was a tapping sound and I flipped my head to find a half pint glass with a small amount of clear liquid in the bottom and a small bottle of orange juice next to it. I reached into my pocket..I am sure I had some change somewhere.

"Oh no need to do that, pumpkin...It's on the house."

"Oh..Thank you" I said shooting her a smile.

"So why is a pretty English girl like you doing in France?"

"I live here...Well that is, I used to."

"Used to?"

"It's a long story...Do you mind my asking, what is this place exactly?"

"It's a nightclub"

"Why is there a catwalk?"

"That is needed for our nightly events"

"Ahh..Performers?"

"Yes..In a way" I poured the orange juice from the bottle into the glass and took a swig, the burn trailing down my throat slowly and numbing me for a second.

"It's good stuff, vodka." Lucy remarked and I placed the glass back down. "So what is your name?"

"Bella"

"That's a nice name, Bella"

"Thank you"

"I am Lucy"

"How long have you worked here?"

"About a year now"

"Do you like it?"

"It pays the rent money...I can't complain very much after that."

"Everything alright ladies?" Carlisle's voice boomed through the restaurant...I watched him walk over to us..He wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Everything is fine, Carlisle"

"Good...Listen, Bella...Do you have a job?"

"A job?"

"You know...Employment?"

"No...At least not yet."

"Fantastique...How would you feel about working here?"

"Here?"

"Yes...It is a nice place, I run it along with these beautiful people and we would be pleased to have a new addition to our little family."

"I am afraid I would have to think about it."

"Of course, of course...Lucy would you take Bella out the back and get some cream for her face."

"Sure" Lucy answered lifting the countertop and closing it again as she took my hand.

"I will look after your drink" Carlisle said as I followed Lucy into a door...A door that said 'staff only' on the top.

"Sit down for me, Bella" Lucy said closing the door behind us and letting go of my hand..She paced in her heels to a cabinet and pulled out a tube of cream as I sat down on the small sofa in the middle of the room.

"If I had to work here, what would it entail?"

"Just bar work and lots of smiles" Lucy answered walking over and sitting on the footstool in front of me and lifting a white wipe up to my face. "I am sorry, this might hurt a little."

As soon as the wipe made contact with my face, I flinched the pain flowing through my entire cheek underneath the surface of my skin...Lucy was gentle as she swirled the wipe around where my cut was using her fingers.

After about five minutes, she took the wipe off of my face "I am just going to put a little bit of cream on here and you will be good to go."

I nodded "so is there a reason why you aren't French?" Lucy smiled.

"I am English, like you..Born and bred however I wanted to travel but being here..I am content with the amount of money I earn and the living this provides me."

"That's good."

"Thank you" Lucy finished putting the small amount of cream on my face and stood up, putting the various things back into the cabinet.

"I have no money, so...I am kind of desperate. But I would like to take up Carlisle's offer." I stammered, feeling a little good about the idea that I may have money in my pocket soon enough.

"That's great....Come with me and we will go back to Carlisle and get you sorted."

I walked out of the room with Lucy.

I had a job.

Bar work and smiles...That didn't seem to hard...Does it?

**WOW...Bella's life changes and runs FAST!! (This is intentional)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**.S.**

**X x x**


	6. Spots

**I do NOT own 'Twilight'.**

*Bella*

"I am sorry...I don't think I understand."

I had taken a shower...Which firstly was bizarre because how can a nightclub have a shower...Besides I wasn't complaining – I had access to my luggage and my private things so there was not much point in trying to find a downside of being clean.

However what I wasn't prepared for or even beginning to expect was the fact that Lucy had gone to get me a work uniform, tonight would be my first night of training and being nervous was enough without setting eyes on my so-called 'work uniform'.

"What's there to understand...This is what you wear Bella, you do realise this?" I held up the skimpy outfit in the mirror, It was even an actual outfit. An outfit to me was like a top and trouser combo but...THIS....How could I wear this in a public place with people watching me?

"This is my uniform?"

"Yes...Carlisle is very persistent that we all wear them, it pleases the customers."

"Pleases them so they DRINK more?"

"That and they give great tips with more skin."

"Lucy...I can't" The tears rimmed my eyes.

"Why not, you need the money right?"

"Yes...But I was hoping for...I don't know trousers."

"Don't be a stick in the mud...I am saying this for your own good, Bella....When Carlisle is protested against or if people refuse him..He turns nasty."

"What?"

Lucy looked at the door and then pulled up the sleeve of one of her arms...I gasped when I say large blue spots all up the top of her arm. "This was just for answering back to a regular customer."

"I covered my mouth with my free hand "how does he get away with this?"

"Because everyone who comes in here...Inspectors...Just get buttered up by him and he offers them a night with one of us girls for free...If they are gay he hires a man for them."

"So...We are whores?"

"No..Not whores...Strippers"

"Why are you doing this?"

"I have no money...And sometimes in life, Bella...You need to eat and you need to survive and take the hand you are dealt with."

"Oh Lucy...There is no way I can get out of this is there?"

"Not now, Bella"

I looked down at the outfit in the long length mirror again. "I have never liked my body" I choked the tears falling down my face now.

"You need to get to like it, Bella...Wipe away the tears and put on a brave face..It is as Carlisle says, people like to see smiles."

Lucy walked out of the room and I took in a deep breath.

How can I do this?

*~Edward~*

"Ugh...Now I don't want to go anywhere." I groaned...The car journey back home was awful..Now I was going to have to endure more of Jacob and Paul's drunken antics...As much as I admire them for putting their relationship out in the open...In their company I desperately wanted a girlfriend, at least for some company and a good conversation.

Was it wrong at this particular moment to be missing Bella?

"Cheer up, misery guts...Come on, a bit of beautiful lace may turn your mood right around."

Groaning again, I followed Jacob and Paul into the club...I hadn't been in here since I had first moved to France when I spent how many hours of each day partying the night away believing that alcohol would get me laid..However I lost my virginity to a show girl in 'Beau lace' who I never saw again after that night. One drunken antic and now I regretted it so much.

The booming of the music rang through my ears as we stepped in, Lucy the usual girl in the club smiled at us seductively as she took our coats and held the doors open for us. Jacob and Paul walked ahead of me hand in hand..I was the loose part hanging on behind feeling utterly and completely inadequate.

"Wipe that smile off your face, sunshine and get some stuff." Paul said pinching one of my cheeks and walking away to the bar.

"Gentleman, haven't seen you in a long time..What's been happening?" a barman said..Wearing nothing and to me, not looking so appealing at all.

'Beau lace' was known to have a type of woman as a stripper or dancer, usually blonde with long legs and a stick-like almost anorexic figure...They were not beautiful at all these girls, they just looked ill.

I leant against the bar dreading about the night to come.

I didn't want to get laid.

I just wanted to go home.

*~Bella~*

I examined myself in the mirror...This was not me.

Fighting back the tears I fastened the last belt across my bare chest and snapped on the black garter that was given to me in a separate accessory box.

"Knock, knock" Lucy peered through the door and studied me up and down the minute she had closed the door behind her.

"Wow...You are going to knock them dead out there"

"Lucy...I really don't think-"

"Still have those silly little doubts eating away at you, eh?"

"Lucy"

"The basics...Use your legs around the pole and smile at every angle of the strobe lights...Do not stand still under the lights as your make up will run under the heat. Besides from that, make sure you do everything that Carlisle says and you will be good to go."

"What is going on?"

"Nothing is going on...You are doing your job, Bella and besides the regulars are suckers for new faces."

"Is that all I am..A new face?"

"In this world, honey...Yes."

"Why?"

"If you want to make it big then you have to do all that is asked of you."

"But-"

"Come on, Carlisle will be wanting you for your entrance"

Lucy grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the small room...Pacing fast down a corridor and to a standstill where there were curtains drawn to the side of us.

"Now the minute that Carlisle calls your name, you step out."

"How will I know?"

"He has a microphone...I must go and stand in the entrance. Good luck sweetie!"

Lucy kissed my cheek and left me standing in front of the drawn curtains.

This was it.

This was really happening.

"Bella!"

After about ten minutes of standing like a complete and utter lemon...I heard my name being shouted over the microphone by Carlisle...I stepped through the curtain concentrating so much on not tripping in the heels I was being forced to wear...The lights hit me all different colours clouding my face and creating soaring heat on my face. All the people in the club cheered and raised their various beverages of alcohol and I found myself fighting back the tears again as I walked to the end of the catwalk getting used to the heels step by step trying to swing my hips like I had been told to do.

"Who starts the bidding at forty euros?" Carlisle said..I froze. _Bidding...People were bidding on me?!_

"Forty" a random person shouted holding up money in his hand.

"fifty" another voice said..I just stood there frozen on the stage...What was I supposed to do? Go and give them a lap dance?

I felt sick...So very sick.

"Eighty"

"One hundred!"

"One hundred..Do I hear one-fifty?"

"Two hundred!"

I couldn't believe what was happening....They were going to want me to do...Well anything they wanted. I was not experienced in the sex area..I had been with someone but hardly enough to make me an expert...I wasn't entirely confident with my body anyway.

"Move" Carlisle whispered to me...I flinched and grabbed the pole with one of my hands...I wrapped one of my legs around it..Having no clue about what to do or what people would like.

"Three hundred!"

"STOP!"

I froze at the voice I suddenly recognized...I took my leg off of the pole and scanned the crowd for the voice of the person I had been so longing to see....I can't deny the fact that I had missed him and he hadn't even been gone two days from me.

Someone climbed up onto the catwalk however due to the strength of the lights..I couldn't see anything and my eyes were beginning to hurt. There was a strong grasp on my hand and before I could manage to say anything to my rescuer – I was being lifted off of the catwalk and handed over to two pairs of arms below the catwalk.

"Hey...You're going to pay for her!" Carlisle shouted however...I was being covered by a coat and led out of the club the doors swinging past us and closing..I felt the cold air on my barely covered body as I was led outside.

"Bella what the hell are you doing?" I wiped my nose as more tears fell from my face...I stopped still as Edward grabbed my shoulders..I looked up into his eyes once again.

"I had to, Edward" I choked out.

"Guys can you give us a minute?" Edward looked behind me.

"Of course" Paul said the doors to the club opening again...I bit down on my lip.

"Bella...How can you work in a place like this..What would Maureen think?!"

"Edward, as pleased as I am to see you...I need the money."

"I know you are short on money, Bell but I am here...I earn...I can help you."

"Edward...I don't want help – I am old enough now to earn my own pay."

"By doing THIS?!"

"What's wrong...It's my first night...Nerves got the better of me."

"You are BETTER than this!"

"What if I'm not?!"

"Don't talk like that"

I turned and walked away from him...Keeping my eyes on the night sky above my head letting out some more tears when he wasn't able to see me. "Do you believe in fate, Edward?"

"What?"

"This is my fate....Must be....I have no other solutions."

"Bella...Do you honestly believe that this is all you are good for?"

"I don't see any other job offers, Edward!"

"Why is this happening...What has happened in the past DAY? I go away and come back to find you as a new girl in a strip club!"

"It's just money, Edward"

"Bella...It's not just money...It's sex"

"So?"

"Those people in there are not interested in beauty or talents...They want sex"

"How would you know?"

"Because I have been in these places...Living here, it's hard not to be in these places."

"So...You enjoy them?"

"USED to...I stopped all that shit when I got a real job"

"I need this"

"Give me one good reason why, Bella"

"You know...maybe it will help my self-confidence"

"Not good enough"

"Edward...I need to go back inside" I turned back and walked towards the entrance doors when Edward's hands stopped me, gripping my shoulders tightly.

"No...I would rather die than see you go back in there"

"This is my choice, Edward"

"No...I know you....I know you deserve better than this"

"You don't know me at all...By helping me out on my first night that makes you know me"

"Call it a guess"

"Let me go!" I struggled against him the coat falling off of my body completely leaving me almost bare in the night.

"Tell me the truth, Bella...The real truth"

"No"

"Bella, please?"

"No"

"Tell me!"

"MAUREEN'S DEAD!" I shouted uncontrollably...I put my hand to my mouth and reached down to take the coat off the ground with my free hand.

"What?"

"She's dead....My cousin died today and Ellie, her so called carer got everything"

"What do you mean she got everything?"

"Maureen wrote a will and as persuaded to hand everything to her"

"Jesus"

"No I have no money...No home and no prospects for my life here...My parents wanted this not me, Edward!"

"Bella" I backed away from him and put the coat over my shoulders...I knew what he was going to do..he was going to try and soothe me and tell me that everything was going to be okay.

"No comforts, Edward"

"I need you to understand that this is not a working place for someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

"Someone who has talent...has brains and has a strong head on their shoulders"

"Is that what I am...because believe me, I never see it"

"You do not see yourself very clearly then"

His words touched a nerve in my body...My already swollen eyes filling up with more salt tears at the honesty and gentility of his words. "I don't know what to do, Edward." I choked.

Edward said nothing as he approached me, once his chest was as close to mine as friends could hope to get to each others...He wrapped his arms around me and I immediately sunk into his warm chest wrapping my own arms around his waist in return.

"Bella...Listen to me, I am not going to allow you back in there. You can come and stay with me."

I lifted myself from his chest and looked into his eyes "no, Edward...I cannot afford to pay rent at the moment."

"I know that...You won't need to...I will pay for your share until you get a proper job and pay me back."

"No, Edward I couldn't"

"Bella..I understand that you want to earn things by yourself in life but right now, you do not have anyone...Only me, and I want to help you so much...Please let me help you, Bella?"

I nodded and he smiled...Kissing my forehead once and pulling me into another hug.

"Edward...Is everything okay?" Paul came back...I lifted my head and smiled at him.

"Hi Paul"

"Well little missy you gave us quite a shock there!" he exclaimed and I giggled.

"Paul..Is Jacob with you?"

"My angel of a boyfriend is inside collecting Bella's suitcase...He will be out in a minute."

"How would you feel about Bella coming to live with us?" Edward asked Paul.

"Hmm...I shall have to think about that........OKAY!" he answered and I beamed. "Edward needs a friend and the flat reeks of men it would be nice to have a girl."

"Paul..How can I thank you?"

"Don't thank us, honey...Thank Edward...He is the one who insisted you get off that stage"

"I turned to Edward.

"How can I thank you, Edward?"

"There is only one way you can thank me"

"Name it?"

"Promise me you will never go back into that club again."

"I promise"

Edward smiled and did the buttons up on my coat...Keeping his eyes firmly away from my exposed flesh and skimpy outfit.

When things get down, they say every cloud has a silver lining.

Edward was my silver lining.

For that, I will always be thankful.

**Short and sweet again.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**.S.**

**X x x**


	7. AUTHOR'S NOTE

HELLO EVERYONE!!

BAD NEWS….MY LAPTOP HAS BEEN OVERTAKEN BY A VIRUS AND SO I NOW HAVE TO ENDURE SERIOUS WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS FROM WRITING MY FICS!

FINGERS CROSSED THAT EVERYTHING WORKS OUT – I WILL UPDATE AS SOON AS HUMANELY POSSIBLE, I PROMISE!

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!

LOTS OF LOVE

JIGSAW~ROSE

XOXOXOX


	8. Adapting

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS!**

**I have neglected this fic as well....Sorry for not updating in a long time – it will be a shorter amount of time for the next update...Pinky Swear!**

***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***

* * *

*Bella*

Securing Edward's coat around my shoulders I was still disliking the fact that I was wearing absolutely nothing underneath in the presence of three older men – France had brought me a lot of changes and it seemed stupid to protest against them anymore....Instead just adapt and accept them.

I wrapped my arms around myself deliberately attempting to ignore the beautiful smell of the coat filling my nose...Musk and a hint of cinnamon, almost....The kind of smell that maybe two years ago – I'd detest but right now, it was welcoming...I felt strangely secure in the aroma.

"Here we are our petit Cherie!" Jacob exclaimed putting emphasis on the French of his words before walking into an apartment...The building darker than usual but stepping into the living room it was brighter. I tagged along behind Edward as Paul carried my suitcase through and _bless him _my bag over his shoulder...Once we were all inside I closed the door after me and brushed my shoes against the coarse material of the doormat before taking them off, completely. Those heels were not going to be graced in my wardrobe back at home – maybe, if I learnt enough French I could sell them to someone who could walk in them ten times better than I ever can.

I took the time when stretching out the pain in my feet scanning around the living room, it was big...Much larger than I originally thought – being an apartment with four men made me realise that this living room must be a regular location for parties and other social gatherings – this was, after all another country...People must do things differently here than they do back in England.

"Bella...Are you okay?" I glanced over at Edward who had stopped in his tracks of the corridor to look at me.

"Yes...Sorry, this living room is really...Nice" I struggled to find a good enough word, Edward frowned before looking around and back to me, again.

"It's not much, but it's home" he replied...I wondered in that moment what kind of home Edward has moved away from. A large one, a small one, a big family, a small one – how was it that I in a strangers house suddenly started to wonder what his background was?

Was _I_ changing in _my _new home of France?

"Would you like a tour...Although I'd much prefer you going upstairs and having some time on your own to take earlier out of your mind?"

Edward showed much care to me...The kind of care that any friend as caring as he was, would...How come I had never seen this kind of friendship back home? Did concrete friendships only last in other countries that an individual can go through their whole lives without ever having to experience?

"I would like a tour...Do you mind if I keep your coat, on though?"

"Of course...Why would you even ask, that?"

"I guess I am still learning the ways of trying to be polite in a different country"

"You are who you are....You're different, but not in a bad way. There is no need to try so hard" he assured me, causing a smile to creep the corners of my mouth upward.

"Thank you"

"Come on" I cleared my throat and followed him down the corridor past the staircase just inside on the left and into another room.

"This is the kitchen – we are all in here most mornings unless Jacob and Paul are out of town or Seb is working an early shift"

The kitchen was large too, an oak table stood in the middle with six chairs placed neatly around it the shade and type of wood the same – the rest of the kitchen inhabited with the basic appliances, fridge, dishwasher, sink...A lot of spare countertop space. This apartment looked like a flat that an English couple would occupy – it was so big and it dawned on me that maybe because all of the men I was to share this house with were working and earning individual salaries – of course they should be able to afford this.

"Through there is the downstairs bathroom...A shower, toilet and sink – there are two others upstairs but that is a spare one in case the upstairs ones are being used"

"That's handy" I replied instantly wanting to cringe at myself at the words that came out of my mouth..._I really have to work on finding better adjectives!_

"Right...Upstairs?"

I nodded and waited for him to walk back through the corridor...I followed keeping a good enough distance behind him and keeping my gaze locked completely on the walls on either side of me – the softness of carpet soothing my tired and screaming feet. There were five doors in different places around the landing walls – in the silence...I tried to guess immediately which room would be Edward's and whether or not he shares it with any of his roommates.

"This one-" he pointed to the one closest to us – the door that looks down the stairs to the corridor and front door, beneath "Is Paul and Jacob's....That one is Sebastian's" the landing was a circle around the staircase – Edward was pointing to the right of the landing now...I took hold of the banister keeping one foot on the last and second to last stair. "That's a bathroom" the final door to the right side of the circle was a bathroom and then Edward changed positions and swivelled to his left "another bathroom and finally, my room"

"Do you share with anyone?"

"No"

"Wow...Your own room...That must be nice" _for god sake, Bella...Enough with the 'nice'._

"It is great but...The room is yours until you find your way – there is a sofa downstairs that can be turned into a double bed"

"Oh no, Edward please...I can't have you giving up your room for me. I will sleep downstairs"

"No...None of that talk, besides there is only one bed and I am not going to sleep next to you now, am I?"

I hummed not really knowing what to say..The man was giving up his room for my own comfort...How was any of this really happening? Was there a point of arguing with him when there was no chance in hell I am going to win?

Edward moved towards the door and I was inclined to follow him – he picked up the suitcase and bag that Paul must have left for me up with one of his hands and opened the door with the other one.

I stopped my movements – the reality dawning on me that I was about to walk in a man's bedroom...I had only done it once in my life and even, then it took me a long time to actually get used to walking in there by myself without having any anxiety or embarrassment about it.

"Bella...its okay" Edward's assuring voice filled my ears soothing me a little as the words registered in my mind.

"It's not really proper for a woman to walk into a man's bedroom – not where I come from, anyway...I do not mean any offence by that...Shit, oh now I have gone and said shit..._twice_"

"Calm down miss babble...I want you to come in and see the best thing about this whole apartment"

"Which is?"

"You won't be able to see it from out here" I bit down on my lip and a sigh of defeat and walked into the room standing still when I placed my feet right in between the corridor and the bedroom carpet.

"It is not rude if I am inviting you in here" Edward's words when unheard when I gasped looking around his room.

There was a large double bed, in the middle of the room at the far end of the wall the left side of the room trailed with large windows covered by white curtains...The left side harbouring a large bookcase and a chest of drawers. This was not the kind of room that I had pictured Edward having...So tidy and so beautiful the whiteness of the walls enhancing the blue bed spread on the bed.

"Wow...This is beautiful..." It was amazing, my mouth permanently fixed in an 'o' shape as Edward chuckled, he must of seen the look on my face.

"Thanks, but we're missing one thing" I snapped out of the trance taking over me from the beauty of the room and watched Edward draw one set of curtains there was a small click and the curtains behind him swung backwards the colder air hitting me..._You can step out through those windows...Well clearly they are not all windows, Bella._

There was an awkward silence and before I could register my movements my feet had already made their way to where I last saw Edward.

_Good god!!_

I gasped again uncontrollably as I stepped out onto the balcony – the Eiffel Tower standing proud in the very distant outline of the horizon...The moonlit sky above creating a blanket around the two of us...My new friend was standing in front of me the muscles of his back breaking through his shirt as he stood in silence taking the view in as if it was his first time like me. As he turned suddenly, I moved my eyes to the view again.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" in reply, I nodded the amazement becoming too much to describe in words – I had already failed in my search for adjectives...I walked forward standing next to him intentionally keeping my shoulder away from his.

"How can you ever leave this room?" I asked

"Well...I have a job and other friends to meet" Edward stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist holding me in a gentle vice...My mind was screaming at me to pull away from him but instead I kept still not moving and giving him anything back. Edward was my friend who was doing me such a huge favour in letting me stay here....The view was music to my ears and flowers to my eyes.

"I never realised how beautiful France is" I said suddenly the soft wind of the air sending tingles through the skin on my face.

"Maybe now you will have time to appreciate it more"

"What am I going to do, Edward...About the job that I would rather die than go back to – I want to pay my part for staying here and you all have been so kind to me"

"Ssh"

I silenced myself at the soothing tone of Edward and took a deep breath in and out. "Bella...There is no need to think about all of that right now...For tonight you are going to have a bathroom all to yourself to spend as much time in and whilst you are in there...I will unpack your things and put them all in my spare drawer"

"That's very kind of you, but...Would you mind if I unpacked myself?"

"No problem...Do you want me to stay?"

"Where did the other go?"

"They probably wanted to give you time to settle in. Tell you what, there are towels in the bathroom...I will go down to Seb's and get us both some drinks and iced buns. I will take the key so no one apart from the guys will be able to get in here"

"Thank you.....Thank you for all of this, Edward"

"It's my pleasure, Bella....I will see you soon"

Edward released my waist and walked back into the bedroom...I instantly missed his arms around me...No longer feeling secure...Empty, almost....Why?!

Not wasting any time...As I stepped back into the room...I took my suitcase from inside of the door and lay it on the bed, searching for my wash bag and finding that everything I left at Maureen's was in there – thankfully, I didn't have to buy any clothes or wash things because everything was here. I took my bag with my favourite strawberry shampoo and conditioner inside and walked across the landing to the bathroom next to Edward's room.

As I stepped in, the same smell from Edward's coat basked me in – I smiled as I closed the door...Opened the small cupboard and took out two towels...One for my body and one for my hair and stripped down making a mental note never to wear that outfit again...The outfit sprawled out along the floor, I also remembered to hang Edward's coat on the hook behind the door, turning the lock before walking over to the shower and turning the water on.

The warmness from the water instantly relaxed my muscles and I closed the glass door putting my shampoo and conditioner in one of the spare built-in holders and tilting my head back for the water to reach all of the areas of my hair.

This felt nice...It didn't feel like I was in another building altogether, the scent of my hair products and the hot water made me feel like I was at home, again...Maureen appearing on the landing to tell me that I shouldn't be making such a fuss over her state and go out and have fun in my young life.

_Maureen....I am sorry that you had to go....But why, why, why did you leave everything to Ellie?!_

Wiping down the doors...I leant down after and took my towels wrapping the larger one around my body and flipping my hair forward in one swift motion when the towel securely hid my body and wrapped the smaller one in my hair.

The steaminess of the bathroom made me reach over to the window and open it slightly to take away the humidity and condensation from the mirrored cabinet. My mum had always taught me never to go through anything that doesn't belong to you – out of principle to that lesson, I stayed well away from the cabinet and took the clothes in my free hand as the other one was placed over my towel keeping it across my body and stepped out of the bathroom altogether closing the door behind me.

In a sudden act of self-consciousness I peered down to the front door below and heard silence..Thanking that there was no one unfortunate enough to see me in a towel I rushed back to Edward's room opening the door...Gasping as the cool air from the open door to the balcony hit me...I dropped the outfit and closed it drawing the curtain back to hide the night from my gaze.

Quicker than the speed of light, feeling anxious that there may be Edward coming in any moment – I got dressed into my most comfortable pyjamas and rushed back to the bathroom hanging up my towels on the rack and removing Edward's coat from behind the door – the steam beginning to subside now the outside air had moulded with it in the bathroom.

I rushed back and unpacked all of my stuff leaving my horrible outfit from earlier in the suitcase locked away for later use. I did not bring many clothes into the country so – lack of space was something that I didn't have to deal with.

I zipped up my suitcase and put it behind the door – making a mental note to ask Edward where it would be better suited and out of the way where other people cannot see it.

Breathing a sigh of relief that everything was done...I unwrapped the small towel from my hair and let it fall on to my shoulders – running back to the bathroom to hang my second towel up I heard the front door closed...I sprinted back to the room and sat down on the foot of the bed waiting for Edward to appear in the doorway.

After a few moments he did, two takeaway cups in his hands and a bag under his arm.

"Feeling better?"

"Yes thank you" I answered shooting him a small, appreciative smile as he handed me my cup...He sat down next to me. "How's Sebastian?"

"After some long teasing about why you are staying with us...He is fine"

"Does he not want me to stay here?" Edward had put the bag inbetween us and I, purposely left the bag alone wanting him to take whatever it was he brought back with him out first.

"Don't be silly, Bella...He is more cheerful about it than anything"

"That's good...I wouldn't want to make people feel awkward being in their home and invading their privacy"

"Bella....Jacob, Paul and I never would have invited you back here if we did not want you here....Besides, it is mostly me who is here the most time so...It's a relief for me, too"

"Really?"

"Yeah...It's nice to have a friend....I got you a hot chocolate by the way, coffee would have kept you up all night"

"I can't remember the last time I had one of those...When I was a kid, maybe"

"I am not too fond of them, either but that cafe is the best for hot drinks"

"Must be a regularity for you going down there"

"You could say that" he answered with a mischievous crooked smile.

"How was your birthday?"

"Not good"

"How come?"

"I missed talking with you...You can imagine my shock to find you in that club, as well....Bella never again should you allow yourself to be subjected to that. I won't let that happen to you again"

"Edward – you have done too much for me, already...Protecting me is not on the list"

"It's not something I have to do, Bella....But I want to...I just hope that someday soon you feel the need to be open with me about things"

"Why?"

"Because I am not like other guys...I listen to people and I actually remember it afterwards...I mean, you're alone in a strange country and there is nothing worse than that. Bella, I don't want you to feel like you're alone"

"That's the funny thing....I thought I was but...Now, I know I'm not alone"

"Why is that?"

"Because I have a new friend, now"

"He sounds like a great guy" Edward teased.

"Who said it was a 'he'?" I shot back as he chuckled.

"We're gonna have a good time here, kid...Just stick with me. Everything will be alright"

In that moment it dawned on me.

I was going to be alright.

It was all thanks to Edward.

**Thanks for Reading!**

**.S.**

**xoxoxoxox**


	9. Protecting

_***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***_

* * *

*Bella*

I awoke to the sound of the birds singing outside of Edward's bedroom balcony...The scent of him from the sheets had made my fall into slumber much easier last night...Being in the new strange house was not something that I would have welcomed back in England because my bed was the only bed I could ever sleep in but seeing as now my life was changing entirely too much and my family no longer wanted me...I had to adapt!

I sat up in the bed slowly letting my transition from sleep to awake take full hold on my system before letting out a yawn and stretching out my arms above my head...As much as France is still daunting to me, the sound of the birdsong was beautiful even more so than the birdsong in England.

I swung my legs off of the side of the bed and climbed into my slippers which I had placed specifically where my feet would leave the confines of the warmness of the duvet so that the coldness shouldn't be an issue.

There was no noise coming from down the stairs, even though my door was slightly ajar...I walked out of the room and closed the door and then started to walk down the stairs slowly – I had no idea about what the time was...It was best then to be quiet just in case there were people still sleeping...Before walking into the kitchen I peered my head around the living room door finding it empty...Edward had told me that he was going to be sleeping down here on the sofa but looking at it gave me the instant indication that no one had slept in it at all. Ignoring the confusion, I stepped into the kitchen finding Paul and Jacob sitting on two chairs of the very large dining table.

"Hello there, Bella" Jacob greeted me in a put-on British accent...I wanted in that moment to be mad but the accent was actually really good.

"Morning" I mumbled leaning against the countertops feeling a little awkward in a kitchen where I did not know where anything was kept or how to hunt for my own food.

"How are you?"

"I am okay"

"Sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you...Can any of you tell me where Edward is?"

"Ah we were wondering how long it would take you to eventually get bored of us...He had to work a late shift last night and an early one this morning – the things that guy does to pay the rent for this place"

_Oh God....Was Edward working harder shifts because I was now staying here....I couldn't have him pay for my half of the deal...How is that fair? There was no point in confronting him about it because he would only insist that I don't pay!_

"Earth calling Bella?!" I snapped back hearing my name from Paul's mouth as both the men in the kitchen gazed at me questioningly "What's up?"

"Sorry...Um...Do you have any idea when he is going to be back?"

"Nope but we have strict orders to take you out to lunch to 'Cafe Rouge'"

"This is his way of protecting me...Giving me two baby-sitters?"

"Hey...We could be very cool baby-sitters and believe me, sweetheart...You are far from a baby as anyone hopes to get"

"Guys as appreciative as I am about the lunch thing....I have no money and I would really like to spend the day trying to find a job of my own"

"Already?"

"Why not?"

"At least get settled, first honey....Paul and I have been looking forward to this – Edward gave us his credit card...Do you have any idea how long we have wanted to have this thing?!"

"Um...I'm guessing a long time?"

"Too long – we have _you _to thank you for the fact that we are going to completely dent that baby today...Edward cannot turn around and say that we have not filled out the duties"

"So he did ask you to baby-sit me?"

"Would you rather Sebastian does it?"

"I don't really know him"

"Trust us...He is all about the French tradition and sure he was born here but...We have the edge"

"The edge?"

"The 'Hakuna Matata' if you like"

"Wow...There was me thinking that France was a completely different world but Disney does exist here!"

"It exists in children and gays so love it or lump it, beauty...Now...You are in the company of two great cooks...What would mademoiselle Bella like for her breakfast?"

"Something that I can hunt for myself"

"See, now that is where you fail in your guest duties"

"Guest duties?"

"Yes to let everyone else do things for you until the time runs out"

"How long do I have?"

"Another couple of days, although knowing Edward...It will be even longer"

"He has already done so much for me...I want to pay him back, somehow"

"I am sure you will find a way, Bella...For now come and sit down"

Paul finished the conversation gesturing to the seat next to him...I sighed in defeat knowing that I was never going to win in a fight set with Edward or either of his roommates...I guess the paying back will have to be done in my own time and of my own means.

I sat down and watched Jacob stand up and gather some things from the fridge humming to himself as he did so...Paul continued to chat with me.

"So...This is the perfect time to tell us more about you, Miss Bella!"

"I am sure Edward has given you the lowdown on me"

"Oh no...Only the basics, we can never get anything else out of him...He stated that it was not his place to tell us anything about you and so the choice would be in your own hands"

"Oh...Well what do you want to know?"

"Anything...Everything....That does not include nothing, though"

"Um...I am British"

"We gathered as much...What are you doing in France?"

"It's a long, complicated story"

"Yeah well Jake takes forever to make pancakes so we have time"

I saw Jacob shoot his partner a look before returning to the pan with his back to us pouring some oil into it and stirring some creamy liquid with a whisk in a large mixing bowl.

"I got kicked out...My parents are very successful workers and so...By sending me here they hope that I can learn the tricks of the trade"

"They are not here?"

"No...They are in England"

"Wow that's good parenting right there" Paul replied sarcastically.

"I can't complain...I have a decent life...There are people with much bigger problems to deal with every day"

"Forget other people...Did you w_ant _to come here...Honestly?"

"No"

"How about now?"

"Now...I suppose I have to adapt – I am surrounded by men, which is a new thing in itself"

"I bet you were beating them away with a stick back home!"

"Of course not....I am not that type of person"

"The type that sleeps with people just because the opportunity is there?"

"Yes...I suppose"

"That's good...It means that you have morals...Every individual has to go through some bad fishes before finding the real reason for living"

"Hmm..."

"You don't believe that?"

"Not really"

"You will...Love will creep up on you when you least expect it"

"I'll believe it when I see it"

The frying pan started to sizzle...Paul and I as a result had to turn up the volume of our voices ever so slightly to hear each other above the sizzling and crackling noises.

"All I can say is...If you end up job searching do NOT end up in Carlisle's place again...That man is a creep in any country"

"I needed the money...I realise it was a stupid thing to do but...When you need the money-"

"Money is immaterial when your morals and pride go down the toilet...You are so much better than those girls in there, Bell!"

"How do you know that?"

"From the way that Edward has spoken about you and the way that you are with us, now...Too wise and too intelligent to give pleasure to old men"

"Unless I can find a job somewhere else then I have no choice...Besides, Edward does not run my life"

"He just cares about you, Bella"

"I am starting to get the feeling that maybe he cares more for me – that care going beyond the nature of friendship"

"Would that matter?"

"Yes...Because, I only see him as a friend...A great friend who has done so much for me...That's all"

"Then that's cool"

"Okay"

"Pancakes up!" Jacob sang passing me a plate and giving me a much needed escape from the conversation about 'Edward' it seemed like every second word that came out of his roommates mouths was his name...What was up with that?!

"Thank you" I took the plate and picked up the knife and fork on top of it and dug into my food...Jacob placed a glass of red juice in front of me before sitting down the two men in silence as they watched me eat...I'll admit it was a little distracting but I figured the faster I ate the quicker I could have access to a shower and allow the running water to wash away my emotions.

As I ate I let my mind wander to the possibility that...I did not have to go back home if I didn't want to...If I could find a job that I loved then there was no reason for me to tell my parents to stuff it – they had been the ones to send me out here in the first place so why give them the satisfaction of knowing that I had an awful time by returning to them..I was old enough to make my own decisions and honestly – they had treated me like a child for so long and now having the roommate's molly-coddle me was not something that I was going to welcome whole-heartedly...Why did Edward care so much anyway? If I make my own mistakes then surely it must be mine to make the hard way or not.

"I am going to hop in the shower" I said breaking the long, torturous silence and standing up with the plate and knife on fork on it in one of my hands.

"Ah...Ah, give me that" Jacob said taking the plate from me...I nodded and walked out of the room as fast as I possibly could.

As much as I appreciated them being so nice to me...They almost seemed to be too nice. Or was I just crazy?

I took my hair products and body wash out of my wash bag and stepped into the bathroom locking the door behind me and turning on the fan...Not being able to sleep last night gave me the opportunity to get more used to the house that I was staying in and where the simple gadgets were which didn't need to have a window open to get the job done. Turning on the water and taking off all of my clothes, I put down my products in their usual space on the shelving in the shower and basked myself under the welcome hot water.

Taking the plan to wash my thoughts away..I put my whole focus entirely on all the muscles being loosened in my body and tilting my head back to have the warmness seep onto my hair.

Smelling the products...I took extra time lathering up my hair with the shampoo and massaging my scalp with the conditioner before adding the body wash and washing all the suds away down the drain.

I wrapped the towel around myself and splashed some cold water on my face from the sink also taking the time to wrap my hair in the small towel as usual before walking back into Edward's room.

Glancing once at the window – I decided not to open the curtains yet to prevent the light straining my eyes which had been used to the dark....In as much speed as possible, I put on some of my usual not so very special casual clothes and socks to heat up my chilled feet and then grabbing the hairdryer from my drawer and plugging it in.

Blocking out all the sounds in the house below and around me was so much more easier with the blaring noise of my dryer putting in all the effort to de-wave my usual curls on the underneath layer of my hair.

I had been lucky in the sense that I had inherited good hair, the kind that was naturally shiny and a mix of different colours which others in my life had find endearing...The only issue I had was the length of time it took to get my hair _completely _dry...It was the longest time I spent in my mornings, most girls spent all their time on their makeup but for me it was my hair...I was a makeup virgin...I had never had the temptation to wear it but if given the opportunity to have some one day was not off of my cards. It might have been curious to see what I looked like with it on.

Turning off the hairdryer...I ran my hair band along the top of my head to keep the right side fringe away from my eye which had trained itself automatically to do without my say-so and then put the hairdryer back in the drawer....I took the towels from the bed and hung them back in the bathroom and returned to the bedroom.

I started to make the bed, pulling the duvet cover back over the pillows.

"Good morning, Bella" I gasped at the sound of Edward's voice as I glanced over to the door and found him standing there looking at what I was doing with a smile on his face. "How are you...Did you sleep okay?"

"Fine" I replied simply...Finishing the bed and sitting down on it...Taking out my usual daily pill for my skin out of the sachets on the bedside table and swallowing it down.

"What's that?"

"Just a pill for my skin"

"Um..Bella, have I done something to upset you?"

"Well...Do you want the truth or do you want a lie?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"I can lie and say that everything is fine or tell the truth"

"What is wrong, Bella?"

"I may be new to this country and this way of living, Edward but I would really appreciate it if you didn't ask your roommates to molly-coddle me"

"What?"

"I don't want to be protected whenever you are not around...Hell, even when you are around"

"I worry about you, Bella"

"Why....There's no need to...Fair enough, I made a mistake with the whole Carlisle thing but I do not need to be reminded of it every day from now on?"

"Excuse me for trying to help you!"

"I never said that I wasn't grateful but Edward, I need to breathe and I need to be free to make my own mistakes in life that is the only way that I will learn"

"Why are you so afraid of letting people help you?!"

"I have been taking care of myself for a long time, Edward...I am not a child"

"I do NOT treat you like a child!"

"Having your roommates watch my every move and indulge in conversation with me that I probably don't even believe that they want to hear IS treating me like a child!"

"Fine...Forget I ever did anything...You go out there and have that freak of a man eye you up and down from a distance for all I care...You're right I don't know why I give a shit...Next time, I won't bother!"

"WELL MAYBE IT'S BEST IF I GO THEN!"

"FINE!"

I stormed past Edward at the threatening tears that were going to inhabit my eyes and stormed down the stairs...Paul and Jacob were standing by the front door looking awkward...I said nothing as I took my coat off of the hook and followed them out of the door.

The day was peaceful...Nothing like my morning had been...I kept close between Jacob and Paul as they shielded me from the other unknown people in the streets living out the next day of their lives the way that they usually did.

"It won't take long to walk there, Bella" Paul assured me...I smiled and nodded in response not wanting to talk until the shock of having the first argument with Edward out of my system.

It took us about fifteen minutes until I was being led into a cute little restaurant in a place where I had never been before but still looked so similar to the other places I had seen in terms of the design of street...This place just looked like it had the same streets and shops but with different names on every new one...How strange, the only thing that seemed remotely and significantly different to me, a foreigner was the houses that were being lived in.

"Hello, welcome to 'Cafe Rouge' a table for three?" A young woman with a very heavy French accent greeted us as we stepped through the door.

"Yes please...A booth is possible" Jacob answered.

"I shall see what I can do...Please follow me"

I took off my coat as I followed Jacob and Paul into the restaurant hanging it over my arm letting the delicious smell of food and the sound of French music take me under in my new world.

I sat down on the leather booth chair opposite Jake and Paul as the young woman handed me a menu and took out a small notebook and pen from her pocket. "Can I get you any drinks?"

"Lemonade please?" Jake said

"I'll have a Fanta, please?" Paul added...I swallowed the dryness in my throat before answering.

"A coke, please?" I added.

"No problem...Bon Appétit!" The young woman walked away and I put my arms on the table and looked down at the menu. The majority of the food being French delicacies but there were a few pasta dishes that only a mere English person would choose....I immediately picked to have a spaghetti bolognaise so as not to be annoying and be one of those people who spend forever to order food.

"Dare we ask what you and Edward were shouting about?"

"We weren't shouting"

"Please, people on the Eiffel tower could hear you" Paul remarked.

"It's nothing...Friends are allowed to argue sometimes"

"Of course they can, but I have rarely seen Edward so angry...It was strange that's all"

"That's what happens when you meet someone from a different walk of life...They can bring out the best or the worst in you...I may be bringing out the worst in Edward"

"Bella...He is our friend and as much as we don't want to sound like we are defending him...We did offer to take you out today, ourselves...He was going to call in sick and spend the day with you"

_Shit....Of course, I had been a bitch!! Edward was not a bad person...I was!_

"Well...Why didn't he tell me that?"

"Probably...Maybe, he wanted to but couldn't"

"If he had then I wouldn't have gone on at him like a heartless bitch...I have never been looked after before and I don't know how to respond to that"

"It's alright, Bella...he probably understands"

"Well...Thank you for taking me out, today"

"Any friend of Ed's is a friend of ours"

Lunch was packed full of conversation that was only put-on to stop me blurting out my real feelings and emotions...As we walked home, Jacob and Paul passed the fountain and I was taken back into my memory of my first night in France and the real day that Edward and I had spent together in each other's company.

He had been so nice and attentive to a new strange British girl he had just met...One with a lot of emotional baggage for a story and parents who had sent her out here for all the wrong reasons. How can I enjoy myself when I was always thinking this way....Always thinking that people were doing things they weren't...I had never had help in life, such a poor excuse as it was I had always coped on my own and I guess when you spend years in that mind-set it becomes a horrible habit to shift.

"Bella you okay?"

I hadn't realised that I had come to a stand-still in front of the fountain. "Sorry, I just really like this fountain"

"Do you want to make a wish?"

_Couldn't hurt!_

"Thank you" I said taking the French coin from Paul's hand and closing my eyes, _I wish Edward could find it in his heart to forgive me_ I threw it into the water and stepped away from it, closing on Paul and Jacob's heels as we made a slow walk back to the house.

*(Evening)*

I had stayed in Edward's bedroom for the rest of the day, splitting up times from lying on the bed with my thoughts and standing on the balcony and looking out onto the view with my thoughts...Jacob and Paul went out a good two hours ago and Sebastian had not returned from work...I had heard the front door open an hour ago...Assuming that it was Edward, I blocked it out and put on my pyjamas.

Then, however I was getting lonely and our argument this morning proved that I had been more in the wrong than him and so like any girl growing up with manners I decided to go and apologise.

I crept down the stairs and tiptoed into the living room...Edward was on his stomach the sofa pulled out into a bed and the sheet covering his half naked body which I fought to ignore and carry out the plan at hand....I knelt down on the floor beside his head so as not to fight the temptation of having to look at his bare torso.

"Edward?" I whispered placing my hands together in my leg and putting my weight back so my bottom was resting on my heels...Edward sighed and fluttered his eyes open.

"Bella...Are you okay?"

"I didn't mean to wake you"

"That's okay...What's the matter?" There was genuine concern in Edward's voice that made my heart melt somewhat at the idea that I had made him so angry this morning, without hearing him out first.

"I am really sorry about this morning"

"I am sorry, too" he whispered lifting his body up and resting his weight on his arms as he shifted closer to the end of the bed.

"I have never really been looked after before, I don't know how to handle it...And judging by how upset I made you this morning....I know I didn't handle it right"

"I was tired, I shouldn't have snapped"

"I put the blame on myself – You have done nothing but help me since I came here and shouting at you is not a way to say thank you....Can we start again?"

"Of course we can, Bella...I care about you because I _want _to care...I want to make sure that you are safe and having you baby-sat was not a good thing...I promise I will back off from now on"

"Not entirely, though...I still want us to be friends"

"We will always be friends"

"Good...Well, goodnight...Edward" I finished standing up.

"Goodnight Bella" he answered giving me another small smile before I closed the living room door on him and made my way back up the stairs.

I had someone there for me and honestly it felt great!

* * *

_**Thanks for Reading!**_

_***Samantha***_


	10. Thoughts

_***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***_

* * *

*Bella*

"Ma Cherie...What do I owe this pleasure?"

Sebastian greeted me with a wide smile as I stepped into the bakery...I had taken an easy escape route from a still-sleeping Edward and also a still-sleeping Edward's couple of euro notes before coming out and getting the two of us some of the best iced buns in the world, that and two coffees...If my money stretched that far, anyway.

I really had to learn about the prices in this place...At least then, maybe I could look like I have gotten used to the country ways and look maybe for a split second that I actually live here.

"Hi Sebastian...Is there any chance I can get two of your iced buns?"

"Of course anything for you!"

I smiled in his cheerful response as he dug two iced buns out of the clear screen of glass and popped them into a paper bag, he twisted the tops circling the bag around in a circle three times before popping it on the counter in front of me.

"Also, two coffees" I added.

"But of course!" Sebastian answered with another welcoming wide smile...I shifted on my feet scanning the rest of the cafe at the various people sitting together and enjoying their morning teas or whatever they had decided to drink in front of them.

Feeling uncomfortable, I turned my gaze to behind the counter as Sebastian set the things down...I handed him over the notes but he immediately put up his hand when his eyes met the notes in my hand.

"No charge...There is no charge for my roommates and friends"

"Really...I do not wish to have these free of charge – can I please at least give you this...It may not be much but in terms of cash flow...You will probably not affect the final tally" I delebirately chose to use terms which Sebastian would not understand in order to have him take the money..If I was going to live here then I would be like everyone else and pay my way – fair enough the money was Edward's but before long, it will be my own.

"Very well...Thank you" Sebastian said taking the notes out of my hand and putting them into the cash register...I held the bag in one hand and the cup holder with the coffees in the other and made my way out of the cafe and back into the town square.

The fountain caught my eye as I walked past it, hearing the French language being spoken so speedily and easily by passers by...Not all of them had the strength in the accent like Sebastian had – which made me think that maybe not every habitant in this country were born here – there may be some hope for me if I ever decided to fill out my inner plan of learning to speak French fluently.

I got back to the apartment in no time at all – Letting myself in with Edward's key and walking into the corridor.

"Bella...Where have you been?" Edward asked coming down the corridor from the kitchen as I took off my shoes.

"Edward...I am fine, I went to get us some coffee and iced buns" I replied holding the contents in my hands up to him.

"You must have let me gone to get them"

"Nonsense...I needed the air" I stepped past him and put the coffee and bag of buns down on the kitchen table..Throwing away the holder in the nearest recycle bin – taking two plates for the buns and sitting down taking a cup of coffee and putting one bun on the plate in front of me...Edward was still standing by the door.

"Won't you come and sit with me?" I asked him.

"I wish you'd have woken me...I would have gone with you"

"I know, Edward but you are tired...Your shifts at work are so unpredictable and you need every bit of rest given to you"

"How did you know how to get an iced bun?"

"Considering you had introduced me to them the night we met...They have become a weakness and a favourite as a result..If I gain weight, I will have you to blame"

"Who cares about weight, Bella...You are in France"

"Come and sit down, Edward...Please you are making me nervous?"

Edward sat down opposite me then in defeat before taking the second cup of coffee and the last iced bun...I took a bite of mine enjoying the feeling of the sticky icing swirling around my mouth.

As Edward and I sat in silence we were distracted from eating and drinking at the sound of a large bang on the front door...Edward turned to face the door and got up from the table...I watched him walk down the corridor and open the door...A squeal of some sort made me jump the cup of coffee falling from my mouth and onto my top...Sighing I put down the cup and stood up from my own chair grabbing two sheets of tissue and dabbing the wet spots on my top that were surely going to stain.

"Oh god, Bella...I am sorry" Edward said standing in the doorway with a huge beaming smile on his face.

"Oh that's okay" I replied continuing to dab the spill.

"There's someone I want you to meet" I looked up from my top again and saw a pretty young girl...Towering below Edward in height, bright eyes gleaming into mine..I instantly felt a little awkward but also a little low in confidence as she was so beautiful and I must look like nothing in the same room as her. "This is Alice" Edward added.

I nodded swallowing loudly and walking around the table to the new beautiful girl...I held out a shaky hand "I'm Bella"

"Hello Bella, I have heard much about you...It is such a strange thing to see a Brit here in France!"

"I should say the same about an American being here, too"

"Ah well I do not _live _here like some people...I have a life!"

"Oh I love you, Alice" Edward teased with a crooked smile.

"You know I love you, too" she sang wrapping her arm around him tighter...At the display of affection I turned back and sat down at the table again, eating my bun a little faster now that I was the third wheel in the house.

"So where are the rest of my boys?"

"Out working – You will see Seb later...Jake and Paul are only here for one more night before they have to away"

"Damn...Well, I will have to make the most of it now, then...How does a girl get a drink around here"

My gaze went to mine and Edward's coffee...I felt a little bad that I had not offered a drink to Edward's girlfriend but trying to find my way in this kitchen...Well this _house _had been a challenge thus far.

"Sit down...I will get you a pop" Edward said as he made his way to the fridge and taking out a can from inside...He put it in front of Alice and was about to take a seat himself when the phone rang.

"Damn that'll be my boss...Excuse me, ladies" he said rather gentlemanly and walked out of the kitchen leaving me alone to make small talk with his girlfriend...How can I make a good impression when I barely know someone...Was she feeling the awkwardness in this room or was I once again made to think things that weren't true?

"He's such a sap, sometimes!" Alice remarked opening the can.

"I wouldn't know"

"So...You are the girl he picked up?"

"Picked up?"

"Brought back home?"

_Did this girl really think that I was some kind of prostitute or something?? That is what it sounds like!_

"Um...No, I am staying here until I can find a place of my own"

"With your parents?"

"No"

"Oh...You have emigrated out here by yourself?"

"No...I was sent here by my family to live with a cousin but she died and I had nowhere to go"

"Oh...I am sorry to hear that...Trust Edward to come in on a high horse in rescue"

"No...It's not like that, I mean...I don't need to be rescued"

"I never said you did, honey...All I'm saying is Edward can be very protective...It's one of the things I so adore about him"

"I understand...So how long have you and Edward been together?"

Alice choked on her drink and covered her mouth with the back of her hand at my question...She started to giggle uncontrollably and I was left to sit there pondering about whether or not I had just made myself look like a prized idiot.

"God, what are you laughing about now?" Edward asked as he came back in giving Alice a few slaps on the back.

"Oh...Sorry...She thought you and I were a couple" Alice splattered.

_I was officially an idiot!_

"No Bella Alice and I are best friends...That is all, besides I would never go for her – she stinks!"

"You're not exactly a basket of roses, yourself"

I finished the iced bun and grabbed the coffee cup as I rose from the table.

"I shall be upstairs"

I needed to find an excuse to go and physically kick myself for being jealous about Alice both in looks and the fact that she may of been with Edward...Why did I care whether he had a girlfriend or not, he was a nice guy...Any girl would be lucky. I climbed the stairs and closed the door to Edward's bedroom instantly deciding to walk out on the balcony and let the wind of the air make me feel better.

_Geez, Bella sometimes you can be such a twat!!_

*Edward*

"Why did you have to go and laugh at her?"

"I am sorry, her question caught me a little off guard...Is she upset?"

"Probably"

"I didn't mean to upset her...She's interesting"

"What do you mean interesting?"

"Different"

"Why don't you start bitching about her, now...Get it all out in the open early?!"

"I am not going to bitch"

"That'll be a first"

"I'm serious...She is very pretty and from the looks of her, intelligent...Is that why you are so hooked up on her?"

"Hooked up?"

"Oh come on, Edward..All I hear from you is Bella-this and Bella-that...Can you honestly sit there and tell me that you only see her as a friend?"

"For once, Alice...Yes I can"

"We have been friends for years...If anyone knows you inside and out it's me"

"This time you're wrong...Keep thinking what you want to but Bella is a friend, who I am helping out"

"You are not just _helping _her out though, are you? This isn't like some old lady you help across a street, Edward...You have given up your room for this girl!"

"I would do that for anyone who needed help"

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Then, I guess I stand corrected – people can change"

"They can"

*Bella*

I gazed out onto the view – letting the air surround me and calm my erratic mind...There was no way I could be able to escape this house without the eagle eye of Edward and where else would I go, anyway?

Why did I not take out a book from back home to at least distract me in the dry spells of being alone in the house...I was missing Maureen so much more now in the present time especially when I wanted so much for the time to fly in the dragging hours.

I took a deep breath out and leant my arms on the balcony rail resting my head on my hands to get rid of the image of Alice out of my head for the moment where I was to be alone with my thoughts and deepest feelings....I was nothing compared to her, as friends Edward and Alice were affectionate and loving...Completely comfortable with each other – I had never had a friend like that, was that not a reflection on me?

Was I not liked enough to be affectionate with a friend...Tell them all that I want in the world and the life that I hope to lead?

"Bella?"

I lifted my head up and turned on my heel to Edward in front of me, I sniffed away the tears that had unexpectedly fallen down my cheeks in the confines of the darkness of my arms and fluttered my eyes to stop anymore escaping.

"What is it?" Edward asked stepping towards me...I could not step away from him and I could not step past him without being stopped and badgered to unburden by heart...I was stuck.

"Suddenly I miss Maureen" I choked out lowering my head to the floor...Edward placed his hands on my shoulder, his scent that had sent me into the deepest sleep filling my nose again – pulling me in further to his body...Hesitantly he wrapped his arms around me and rested his head against mine...I placed my hands on his chest letting him hold me and I relieved to release my own tears out of choice.

"Everything is going to be alright, Bella...Just cry it all out" Edward soothed his voice vibrating off of my own skin.

"I'm sorry" I choked

"There's no need to be sorry, Bella...Don't be sorry for crying...Be honest with me, did Alice upset you?"

"No...I felt like an idiot more than anything"

"You caught her off guard...I promise you she was not laughing at you but only at the idea of her and I as a couple"

"It's not that humorous"

"We have had it before...I guess we should be used to it by now"

"I shouldn't have assumed"

"Its okay, Bella"

I lifted my head and hands off of Edward not wanting to be surrounded by his really nice smell anymore..I wiped my eyes with my fingers and sniffed again, Edward took my face in his hands.

"I am off to work...Alice is downstairs if you need someone to talk to...I will be back later. Is there anything you need?"

"No..Thank you for asking"

Edward smiled and kissed me softly on the forehead before walking back into the bedroom and away from me. Why did I feel so safe when his hands were on my face? I really needed to stop changing; it was scary and so unlike me.

"Hi Bella"

Alice came out then, replacing Edward...I smiled at her. "I am so sorry, if I upset you"

"No...It's my stuff...I make myself look like an idiot most of the time, anyway"

"Well...I was wondering, the only places I really enjoy here are the clubs...Do you know of any quieter places around?"

"I know of one cafe and maybe two restaurants but that's as far as my knowledge goes"

"Oh god, I forgot that Sebastian works at that cafe...How about we start again over a cup of hot chocolate?"

"Um...Sure, of course...Do you have French money?"

"Yes...I take it you haven't got round to that, yet?"

"Right"

"That's okay...It's my treat – I did after all make you feel uncomfortable"

"Are you going to be like Edward and protest even if I say 'no'?"

"Yes!"

"Then, okay"

Alice let out a giggle and took me by the hand as we walked down the stairs and took our coats off of the hooks and walked out of the door...I searched for Edward's key but couldn't find it in my pocket.

"Um...Alice?"

"Yeah?" She had already started walking across the street when she stopped in her tracks to turn to me.

"Do you have a copy of the key?"

"I do!"

"Then why did you use the doorbell, earlier?"

"To make Edward get off his fat ass and get it"

"Oh, okay" I closed the distance between us, Alice linked her arm in mine and we both began the short walk to Sebastian's cafe – I hope he didn't think that two visits meant I had some kind of caffeine addiction!

"Oh wow...I love this fountain!"

The fountain was slowly becoming one of my favourite places to be...The more I looked at it the more I became entranced by the water both sprinkling outward but also the flowy surface at the bottom...I used to love being in the water as a child – on holidays the only place you could ever hope to find me was in a swimming pool or the sea...A water baby my mum had always called me.

"Do you mind if I make a wish?" Alice asked me as she fumbled through her pocket taking out a small coin "It's American but what the hell...If someone steals it, it won't be worth anything here anyway" I smiled and watched her close her eyes in silence for a few seconds before throwing the useless coin in the fountain. "Do you want to make one?"

"No I have made mine yesterday"

"Fair play...Let's go then, sweetie" Alice linked her arm in mine again and we both walked into the cafe...Sebastian's chuckling then ringing through our ears.

"ALICE!"

"Sebastian!" Edward's always so friendly roommate came out from behind the counter and grabbed Alice into a crushing hug as she giggled lightly hugging him back with as much force...So much love and strength for such a short woman...It was pretty incredible to look at.

"How have you been?!" Alice exclaimed getting her breath back and stepping away from him.

"We have been missing you, little one!" Sebastian answered her with gigantic enthusiasm..."I see you have met the newest addition to the family" he added shooting a small glance my way.

"Bella...Of course?!"

"What can I get you, beauty?"

"I would love two of your hot chocolates!"

"Sure...I will bring them over" Sebastian walked around the counter again and Alice beamed at me before taking a seat of two...Us two being the only people at the current time in the cafe sitting down.

"So..Bella, how has France life been treating you?"

"Um...So far, it could be better but I am well looked after"

"That you are!"

"Where are you staying?"

"Oh my family have a house out here which I take full advantage of!"

"Wow...Really?"

"Yeah...They wanted to rent it out and they still do...I just stay there when there are no occupiers"

"I see...Do you come from a big family?"

"No...Just me and my older brother, Emmett"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I do...His name is Jasper, the last time I visited Edward he came with me but he had to work and this is the only vacation time I get for a while"

"How long have you been with him?"

"Two years now"

"Do you want a future with him?"

"Hell yeah...He is the love of my life!"

"You've found yours, then?"

"You don't have a boyfriend?"

I shook my head not wanting to answer her cheery question.

"How come, pretty girl like you?!"

"I guess I picked the wrong one"

"Oh...Was it bad?"

"Um..I can't really remember, all I remember is crying"

"Then we shall have to do something about that"

"Alice...I am a stranger, in a strange City...I just want to be myself right now"

"You are in the city of love, Bella...If anyone finds love it should be here!"

"I am not a loving kind of person"

"Now that I can't believe!"

"Ladies" Sebastian laid down the chocolates in front of us..I glanced down and couldn't help but let out a smile at the fact that he had made a heart out of tiny marshmallows on the top of my drink....Did he hear our conversation?

"See...You smile at the image of a heart...You have a heart"

"It's buried for the time being...What exactly has Edward told you about me?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It seems he has been telling people about me...People I do not know"

"There is no need to panic, Bella...He says all good things"

"Like?"

"I don't think it is my place to tell you that"

"Why not?"

"Maybe you should ask, Edward yourself"

"Okay"

I shut up, then...Making a mental note to ask Edward what exactly he had been telling people about me...If it was anything bad then I know I will probably cry, again.

Then again, why did I care so much about what people I didn't know thought of me?

Was it the fact that I wanted to make a good impression?

Or was it because they were Edward's words?

_Please tell me that he hadn't said anything bad!!_

* * *

**Short and sweet but the story will pick up SOON!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

***Samantha***


	11. Wronged

_***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***_

_***~THANK YOU for the reviews!!~***_

*Bella*

When a person has a busy day like the one I had with Alice, usually that person would be zonked out into an easy sleep, peaceful for the next day – however that night after everyone downstairs had gone to bed...I was still up, unable to stop my mind from working on overtime when it didn't need to.

I had sat up in Edward's bed for what seemed like hours, the time dragging painfully slowly in the droning silence before plucking up the courage to move around...Go downstairs to at least get something to drink before coming back up again...I tied my dressing gown around myself and opened the bedroom door slowly – the creaks not so evident from the very inside of it to the landing out ahead...There was complete silence and Alice had already gone home and no doubt Edward was either still at work or asleep in the living room.

He was sleeping when I passed the living room...The sound of his heavy breathing being the only sound to be heard in the dead corpse of the apartment...Something else rang through my ears then, a little bang which was coming from behind me...I came to a stand-still in the corridor so close to the kitchen and saw a white piece of paper hanging out of the tiny letterbox at the centre of the door...I frowned before walking towards it and taking it gently out of it's holder not wanting to make any more noise...It was folded in half so on instinct I opened it...There was no name on the envelope and so...If it wasn't for me then seeing as there wasn't an envelope, either – it wouldn't matter so much.

I walked into the kitchen and took a seat on a chair before opening the envelope out in front of me.

_I know you are staying here – you can't hide forever little beauty._

_I want my payment._

Nausea and panic constricted my throat – The letter wasn't even hand-written there were cut-outs of what looked like different letters from magazines...At the sound of the door...I blinked away the filling tears on my eyelids and stuffed the piece of paper down the waistband of my pyjama trousers and ran both my hands through my hair.

"Mon Cherie...What are you doing....I mean er...Why aren't you sleeping?" Sebastian emerged from the darkness of the corridor into the kitchen his gaze falling on me.

"I can't sleep...Have you just finished work?"

"Yes...The job is...How you say...Demanding" Sebastian answered...He held the back of the chair opposite mine at the table "would you like someone to talk to?"

I smiled uncontrollably at his honest question..."Sure" I answered him nodding.

Sebastian sat down carefully so as not to make any noise that can wake Edward in the other room and placed his hands together on the table in front of both of us. "Why can't you sleep?"

"I don't know...Being here has changed my sleeping patterns"

"France is a big change for a lovely English girl like you...Lying to you at this moment would not be the right thing to do"

"Thank you...I appreciate the fact that someone is being honest with someone?"

"What do you mean joli?"

"Edward has been telling me that everything is going to be alright but the more I stay here, the more I realise that maybe...I will never belong here"

"Ah non-sens, Bella...You have been a great change for this place...I have never seen Edward so happy before – he has been lost for a while!"

"Lost?"

"Edward is a man who has many talents – he just fails to see them, it is frustrating for his friends like us who care about him and what he does with his life"

"I thought he was happy"

"Oh no, Bella...Bien au contraire...After losing his family he has not been able to care about anyone in his life...That is, until you come into his life"

"Sebastian...Do you mind me asking, where is it that you come from...Do you have a family?"

"My mother lives in Roussillon...I never knew my father, there was only me as a child...I mean, the only child and my mother and I did not have a lot of money and so...I have been working and earning for a long time"

"I'm sorry...That must have been hard"

"Yes, it was...But when you grow up with nothing you appreciate the little things in life a lot more – I adore my job and the pay is good...I can't complain"

"You have a good attitude"

"I cannot say that I have the same...Erm....Intelligence as you, though"

"Sebastian...You don't know me"

"I know that a lot of young people would have left this country already because the change is too much for them-"

"The only reason I am here is because of Edward"

"Do you have a boyfriend back home?"

"No...I did, a while ago...How about you?"

"Recently broke up with my girlfriend, Brigitte...The most stunning girl in the whole of France"

"Really?"

"Of course but sometimes in this world we lose things that we once cared deeply about...Brigitte and I had very demanding jobs and little time to spend with each other....I wanted to be with her badly and so...We had to make the sacrifice"

"The sacrifice of giving up someone you love?"

"You have to do it sometimes, Bella....For both theirs and your best interests"

"So...If you had the choice between working and her, you would pick work?"

"No...But, both of us love what we do but we loved each other...In those kind of situations there are no other options and there aren't any compromises"

"That must have broken your heart"

"Yes...It did"

"I could never give up someone I loved that much"

"It comes at a price...I have been working all my life and I did not want to give that up...Who knows in the future we may run into each other again"

"Maybe"

"Have you ever truly loved someone, Bella?"

"No...Unfortunately"

"Then you may never know what that kind of thing is like until experiencing it for yourself"

"You're right...I can never understand what you are saying...But I have had to mend a broken heart a few times"

"Really?"

"Yes...I had to mend my heart when the man I thought I loved showed his true colours to me...I also had to mend it when my parents sent me here – then Maureen died"

"I heard"

"Edward told you?"

"Yes...She was a great woman, also had a lot of love for you"

"I miss her, Sebastian"

"That is natural...Death is horrible on all accounts and even though, I have struggled in my life – I have never experienced death in it"

"Let's hope you never have to"

"Ah life is one of those endless mysteries, Bella....One minute it can throw you in the deep end and the next it deals you a card...I guess that is the fun of it, no?"

"I guess...I do not see it that way – I see it as a learning curve – we are dealt the cards we are given and so must play on no matter what the cost or how much we may or may not want to...Life for my parents did not have many cards...Maybe, two at the most – a successful job and marriage...Now, I have an unknown deck"

"You _will _make it out here, Bella...I am certain of it"

"Shall I take your word for it?" I asked him with a small smile.

"No...But, it is a consolation that others can see your as you say, true colours even though you may not yet see them yourself"

"Thanks, Sebastian...That means a lot"

"My pleasure...Are you going to be able to sleep, now?"

"I doubt it...You need to get some sleep...Have you got another shift in the morning?"

"I have my day off, tomorrow...I am going to visit my mother"

"She will be pleased to see you"

"Here's hoping-" Sebastian broke off as he rose from the table...Putting the chair back properly "bonne nuit, young Bella"

"Bonne nuit, Seb" I answered softly...Guessing that those two words meant goodnight, either that or I have made a fool out of myself yet again in my young life...Sebastian walked away and up the stairs.

I could feel the letter burning against my skin...I never wanted to see it again, but there was trouble facing me if I did not sort out what it is Carlisle was really after...Of course the letter was from Carlisle...Who else could it be from? The idea of sticking letters from magazines on a piece of paper to send a message indicated to me that he did not want to run the risk of a possible police enquiry, where DNA must be swapped in order for them to find him the offender.

The fear was too much to send me into any hope of getting sleep, now...I got up and without thinking walked into the living room...Sitting down on the armchair opposite to where Edward was sleeping peacefully.

Edward did look so peaceful when he slept...He had been through a hard life..How can anyone so nice as him or Sebastian have gone through so much trauma and emotional drain the injustice was awful. They were great people, who deserved good in their life however it seemed the bad people always get the better end of the stick.

Telling Edward about the letter was a slight temptation, I cannot lie to myself and say that it wasn't but if he knew then he would only take out means to protect me even more, alas he had his own life to lead and he had to protect himself...I was unimportant when individuals needed to take the stubborn approach to their lives and do things only with their intentions at heart...I was not one of those people, so I was going to force it upon others because independence was the thing I desired above all things.

My friend's breathing soothed me a little, the fact that he was able to sleep meant something to me as he worked hard for his money...I will be one of those people who pave their own life paths...Even if that means having to go back and work for Carlisle...I needed the money, I needed to pay back Edward's kindness....That, or die trying!

"Can't sleep?"

I snapped out of my trance to find Edward's eyes locking with mine from his bed...He looked sleepy but he did not look agitated that I had woke him up...I swallowed down the truth and the real thoughts in my head and spoke.

"No...I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No...Come here?"

Edward held out his hand bringing it out into the air from the warmth of his pillow...I immediately got up from the chair even though my mind was screaming at me to go back upstairs and leave him alone...I brushed his fingers lightly with mine before he enveloped my hand entirely in his own...Coldness against warmth...The warmth sent comfort to my very soul and in that moment...I did not want to leave him.

Without saying anything Edward scooted over across the other side of the bed and pulled me into the spot he had just left...I climbed into the warm cocoon the same beautiful smell of my friend making me feel instantly better the burn from the letter still in the waistband of my trousers washing away.

I never protested when Edward released my hand and wrapped his arms around me...Taking the duvet cover with him and entwining me into it...He kissed my forehead before resting his chin on the top of my head and breathing heavily.

Strangely, by magic...My eyes fluttered closed against the radiating warmth and kindness from both his physical body and his soul.

*(Morning)*

As I opened my eyes, I found my position to still be the same as when I had gone into a much needed sleep last night, however this sleep was better than any of the nights I had endured upstairs alone in Edward's bedroom...What did that mean?

I tilted my head back away from Edwards chin and throat and gazed at his deep-sleeping form once before gently removing my body from his arms....Pleased after that I could stand and not have him wake up on me....I stretched out my arms above my head and walked out of the living room and up the stairs.

There was something that I needed to do, today....Something that I could not tell Edward about...Or anyone else that was linked to him.

It was a thing that I had to do, in order to get some peace of mind.

I showered quickly and got changed into the most unflattering clothes I owned, remembering to throw the letter into one of my drawers, hidden underneath my clothes where no one in the house would go into...Tying my wet hair up in a bun...I took my usual daily pill and after hanging up the towels back in the bathroom...I tiptoed down the stairs, the silence in the house was a welcoming sound to my ears...No one must be up, yet....Not minding about not having a key I stepped out of the front door and out into the morning air.

Lord knows what the time was; I could not bring myself to care...It was light and that was all that mattered right now..This day was not going to be a good one. That much, I knew already.

'Beau Lace' looked no different to when I was last in it...Except for the fact that it was now, the daytime and there were not any drunks to back up the overall craziness and truthfully down right absurdity of the club.

I opened the double door...Strangely surprised at the fact that it was open before stepping into the bar..I saw Lucy stocking up new bottles of drinks on the empty shelves..As she turned and her eyes locked with mine she gasped and dropped a small bottle of juice onto the floor...I bit down on my lip and closed the distance between us, the bar being the only thing in our way.

"Bella...What are you _doing _here?"

"Lucy, would you care to explain why there was a letter sent to me?"

"A letter..What kind of letter?"

"The kind that does not have evidence of hand-writing, only issues of different magazines?"

"Oh Jesus, Bella...I never thought that he would actually go through with it!"

"Carlisle?"

"He has never forgotten your male friend dragging you out of here and not making a payment for you...You know, I cannot persuade him otherwise"

"Lucy...What is it that he wants?"

"This is a nightclub...However; the difference now being is you have to make the payment to Carlisle, himself and not the punters. To make him shut up and hopefully leave you alone...I have to say even then it is not definitely going to be permanent then you must give him exactly what he asks for"

"_Whatever _he asks for?"

"I am so sorry, Bella...All of us working that night tried to make him forget you but it was doomed to good to be true"

"How did he know where I lived?"

"Carlisle has ways and means"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Get out of here"

"What?"

"Get out of here, right now...Before he sees you"

"Ah Lucy....Why did you not inform me that we had a visitor?"

Both Lucy and I turned to see Carlisle at the 'staff only' door eyeing me up and down "Bella..So nice to see you, again"

His voice was sickly sweet...Put-on entirely...As much as it pained me to see him and to find out what it was he wanted from me...I needed to do it, if I were to have any hope of leading a normal life without any interruptions to my happiness or well-being.

I swallowed down the sudden dryness and constriction in my throat as Carlisle closed the distance between himself and I, putting his index finger under my chin...Tears were already threatening to fill up my eyes as I tried to keep my eyes locked with his so as not to show the fear in my eyes...I bit down hard on my bottom lip as he slowly leaned in to my ear.

"Come into my office" he whispered...I followed him, then into the office never once looking back to Lucy who would no doubt have a look of horror and suspicion on her face at my choice.

I closed the door and watched Carlisle sit down on the sofa "how have you been keeping, Bella?"

The magazines on the coffee table caught my eye...The same magazines that must have been used to make my letter in the early hours of this morning. "Fine...Carlisle, I know you are the one who send that note to me"

"What note would that be, Bella?"

"What is it that you want?"

"I want payment"

"Fine...But I have no money"

"I do not want money, Bella...I have enough of that – I want to be paid by other means"

My breathing was becoming erratic....

'_Those people don't care about beauty or talents all they want is sex' _Edward's voice swirled around my head like a wild fire, I was stupid not to listen to him as he was right...Why would Carlisle want anything else...If this is how he earns his own living?

I must be confident in this moment...I cannot show him my fear and give him any satisfaction or ammunition to use against me in a situation where I was doomed to be vulnerable and uncomfortable.

"What do you want?" I asked in a forced-steady voice.

Carlisle got up from the sofa and cupped my face in his hands...I hated the feel of his skin on mine...Nothing felt right, none of this, did.

"As long as you make me happy, Bella...I can take care of you, financially" he reached into his pocket taking one hand off of my face...He took out a small wad of money and held it up to my face "six hundred euros, Bella...This is yours, if you give me what I want"

My eyes immediately went to the money in his hands, six hundred euros _sounded _like a lot of money even though I did not know how much it would come to in English pounds. English pounds were truly not going to be in my new life, anymore!

I took the money from him my hand shaking and put it in my back pocket as Carlisle's empty hand cupped my cheek, again as he smiled.

"Good girl" he said before kissing my lips hard...I did not fight against him even though every area ofmy body was fighting to run away from this place...Nausea came to my stomach again as he parted my mouth and used his tongue in my mouth...I kept my lips lifeless...Letting him move them in the way that he wanted.

Without warning, Carlisle had moved his hands off of my face and up underneath my top to grasp my covered breasts in his hands rubbing them forcefully as he sighed continuously against our working mouths...I desperately needed to release some tears because this did not feel right at all...There was no feeling behind this at least not from me and I instantly felt dirty and worthless as Carlisle did what he wanted with me.

"I want you to come back, tonight...You will be paid, however this will have to do me until I can get a more suitable attire for you" Carlisle whispered before running his tongue along my upper and lower lip making me cringe internally.

I could only nod then, the attire he meant was going to be the outfit I had worn before...Maybe even worse.

I walked out of his office into the empty bar – Lucy was no longer there and I was grateful that she was not there to give me a shameful look to add to the shame that already weighed down on my body and my mind.

As I stepped out into the air...I ran back to Edward's apartment needing to take another shower to wash away the dirtiness and evidence of what I had just done.

I knocked softly on the front door...Edward and Alice opened it...Both giving me questioning looks.

"Bella...Where have you been?" Edward asked me, concern clouding his voice.

"I went for a walk" I lied simply.

"Bella...I want to take you out again today, with Edward this time!" Alice beamed.

"Okay...I need to take a shower, first I haven't had one" lying to Alice and Edward felt so horrible that hanging myself in shame right now would be the only way to rid that sadness that suddenly surrounded my heart.

I kicked off of my shoes and pegged it up to the bathroom...Stripping down and walking into the shower in haste.

I scrubbed myself with the loofah so hard to get rid of all the traces of my encounter with Carlisle in secret...It was easy to ignore the pain from the loofah on my skin when it meant that I was going to be fully clean.

I got dressed in new clothes just as quickly shoving the old ones away at the back of my drawer and had sat down on the end of Edward's bed and lifted my knees up my arms wrapping around them...I took the opportunity in silence to let out all of my tears.

I did not even hear the bedroom door opening, just a voice after about five minutes later.

"Bella?"

The voice like velvet...The voice of the person that had no knowledge of what I was getting myself into, no idea about how much of a bad friend I was being. If there was any way that I could get out of this then hell, I would do it but Carlisle was never going to leave me alone if I didn't do this...Not having Edward worry was the BEST thing...Even though it felt so horrible.

My arms were pulled away from my knees and my knees were pushed gently onto the floor...In my emotion I could only be a ragdoll as the sobs escaped my stomach rapidly the tears flowing down my cheeks like a waterfall.

Edward pulled me into his chest as he ran his hands gently down my now loose hair. "Ssh...Everything is going to be alright Bella, I am here now" he soothed, the sound of his caring voice making me cry even more.

_Oh Edward, please forgive me...If you ever find out about this then even if it is years down the line...Find it in your pure and good heart to forgive me!!_

_I can't live knowing that you think badly of me...A friend, who you thought you knew so well._

_Forgive me!_

**Thanks for Reading!**

***Samantha***


	12. Spotlight

***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***

***~THANK YOU for the reviews!!~***

*Bella*

"On my lap, Bella!"

I had successfully managed a day out with Alice and Edward – hiding the fact that I was now doing something so awful that even they would never find it in their purest hearts to look at me in the same way, again. An excuse for basic 'survival' was never going to be enough on my part. I was now, in the presence of Carlisle once again, the outfit that I had been forced to wear was causing me to shake uncontrollably...From the coldness of the blasting air conditioning in the office and possibly out of nerves....I had always been slightly self-conscious of myself but being with Carlisle for only a day made me realise that it was time to bring out some unused acting skills if i am to ever see the end of this nightmare. So far, I had been hiding my fear and uncontrollable nausea and paranoia at bay.

At Carlisle forceful demanding voice, I obliged sitting down on his lap and facing him...He had taken off his trousers and pulled down his boxers (actually they were not even boxer shorts, they were like the Speedo swimming trunks that people get in England...Tiny and tight and a sight, I have to disclose that caused no sense of excitement within me) to his calves...I, on the other hand was wearing a tiny little corset and a pair of underwear...The goose bumps appearing all over my legs, feet and arms from the freezer of an office.

"Show me what I have been dreaming about Bella...Move your hips on me"

Carlisle was already...What was the best word...._'Hard' _as I began to move my hips slowly against his own in forwards and backward motions, inwardly thankful that I still had my underwear on at this point. Carlisle's breathing had deepened and become somewhat husky as he leant his head back and closed his eyes prolonging the moment of my hips on his – he was actually enjoying this...How can any decent human being be enjoying this?!

At his silence, I decided in that moment in my mind that the best way I was to be able to keep my clothes on was to pace up my hips and show him some more things that I can 'do'. Instead of course those things having to be pulled out of the hat at the last minute to get paid and get out of here without people getting suspicious.

Taking a deep breath in...I moved my hips harder against his...Banging my hip bones against his own body, hard...Not out of pleasure but out of anger...Keeping my lower body moving...I lifted up my hands, which were still shaking and ran them through his hair from the tips to the roots...Getting a guttural moan from him in response.

"Bella...You feel good" he breathed...Clearly in such a state of arousal that it was hard to form words from his mouth – at least the majority of them not making sense.

Blinking back tears again I moved my lips to his...Kissing him with too much forced 'passion' that it made me a little doubtful that he may be able to see that this is all an act from my side. Carlisle responded violently groping my hair in his hands forcefully to push our lips closer together...However this was not the kind of kiss that I would want to spend the rest of my life having, the arousal from Carlisle is something that I desired to have both myself and the guy I end up with to have as a joined effort – both of us having each other intimately and want each other in the same way...In other words, mutual feeling.

Without thinking, I climbed from his lap and backed away from him as he brought his head forward and opened his eyes.

"Sorry...I am just a little thirsty" I lied, feeling the sobs desiring to escape from the confines of my stomach and my mouth...Forcing them down was becoming unbearable as I stood there, shifting my feet from side to side not knowing how he was going to react.

"I am sorry...I should have thought about that, Bella....LUCY?!"

At his shout...I backed away from my spot – originally where I could be seen from the doorway as people stepped in and out. Moments later, the door opened to the office – the music from outside and various random (mostly men) screaming and whooping blaring through my ears and muffling again when the door closed. Lucy faced Carlisle for a moment and turned to face me....I shot a look that hopefully should have shown her how uncomfortable I was feeling and how much I desired to be on my own and cry.

"Yes Carlisle?" she asked....Lucy was also dressed in a skimpy outfit like mine, she had heels that lifted her height up at least six inches but she in all honesty looked much more comfortable than I did.

"Can you fetch Bella here a drink...She will be here for a while" at his answer, the sneaky bastard of a man shot me a smirk...The kind that may have been a clause to get women to fall at his feet and their hearts melt in his presence...But I am different to the entire country and so being different in new situations was not surprising news to me anymore.

"Actually, Carlisle...There have been requests made outside for Bella...I know that she has to make a payment to you but think of how happy the regulars are going to be...I shall take her place in here"

I gawked at the offer that Lucy had made Carlisle...Who was asking for me outside?! Please to God don't let it be Edward, Alice or the roommates...I couldn't face them dressed like this...As I had already spun them a lie of my whereabouts tonight having them find out the exact location of where I was is too much to bear for my mind – even the idea rather than the reality.

"Very well...You are always looking out for the business, Lucy...Are there any other of my girls out there working the bar?"

"Yes, boss it is all taken care of"

"Bella...You may go...Make us more money, chica!" Carlisle said using his index finger to gesture Lucy towards him...Lucy mouthed a quick 'go' to me before straddling Carlisle's lap...Kissing him hungrily...His hands in response immediately undoing the lace of her corset at her back.

In haste, I ran out of the door into the blaring and ear-consuming music outside...I looked around and saw that most of the people in the club were distracted by a girl I hadn't met before making herself busy and irresistible on the catwalk...Lit up everywhere where no part of her was ever missed out. I dipped through the punters and reached the bar...I gained a few smiles from the staff wearing also nothing that can be categorized as clothing, ignoring the shouts of drink orders and wolf whistles from the bar hoggers I reached out for a bottle of 'Appletizer' and opened it taking a big sip out of it.

Standing around various drunks – I realised that Carlisle was going to be wanting money for proof of what I had done out here as Lucy was in my place (which I felt extremely bad about because she had saved me from a very awkward situation of having sex with a man I barely knew...Also having sex for money)...I glanced at the catwalk and saw that another girl had gone up there and men were slipping notes into her small amount of clothing as she danced in front of them...I was not much of a dancer but dancing seemed to be the best thing to do without having to get rid of my clothing.

Finishing the last of my drink in one long gulp; I plucked up the courage to walk behind the catwalk...In the security of the closed curtain..I took a deep breath and undid the garter that was on one of my legs and threw it to the ground.

The warm lights hit me as I stepped through the curtain and onto the stage – the other two girls had noticed me step on and had nodded once in greeting before going back to their customers. New cheers and bellows came from my audience as I walked down the catwalk not having to worry about staying steady in a huge pair of heels. This still felt wrong, but this was a much better option than having sex with anyone – or indulging in other pleasurable activities that I had no experience in.

I began to dance slowly and smoothly at the end of the catwalk bending down as many ways and has many times as I could manage to get their money into my underwear, corset or even in the insides of my shoes....After only five minutes, I had enough money in my clothes to buy my own house – that was going to be my rent money, even though Carlisle and this contraption of a company got a share...It would still be enough for Edward.

The music that had been playing dragged into another song and more cheers came as I turned to see Lucy come onto the catwalk...I backed away from my spot letting Lucy have her moments and contented myself with one of the poles. There were now four of us on the stage enjoying the money we were all being given.

Lucy shot me the occasional glances when she had a moment away from the desire-driven alcohol consumed men around us stretching up their hands, either with notes in them or not. The touching was not a welcome new happening to me; there were a crowd near the pole who had gathered from where I had originally been standing at the very foot of the catwalk that at every opportune moment slapped, pinched or palmed me...The heat from the lights and the deafening sound of the music had sent me into over-drive...The sweat was beading from my forehead without warning and I, remembering the rule that Carlisle had given me earlier about not being able to have your makeup run...Makeup which a strange girl that I could not see in the club anymore had put on me the moment I had arrived.

I stepped away from the lights, and the catwalk altogether sinking into the sofa opposite the closed curtain and putting my head in my hands to get rid of the dizziness.

"Bella?"

I looked up and saw Lucy on her knees in front of me "are you alright?"

The tears that I had been trying so hard to keep away then washed over me at the concern radiating from Lucy's voice...She had been such a good friend to me, a good friend who did not deserve to have this kind of job just to earn some money...I was no longer the stranger British girl in France, anymore.

The change was not a welcome one!

"Do you have a cigarette?" I had not had a cigarette in weeks but I knew already that Lucy was a smoker, going outside at various times to have one but in all honesty I had always assumed it was because she had needed to take five minutes to clear her head...The clearing of my head was definitely needed right now.

"Sure...Come on, we'll go together" Lucy took my hand and helped me up to standing.

"Where's Carlisle?" I asked her taking out the notes from the areas of my clothes and popping them all into one pile and into the waistband of my underwear.

"We won't be seeing him, again...Tonight, anyway"

I did not know what Lucy meant by her answer – but I couldn't find it in my heart to ask her about it.

The outside air was a comfort to my overly-flushed body as Lucy and I stepped out into the back of the club...Desertion and neglect surrounding us from the weeds and overly-grown grass.

Lucy took out a cigarette from behind her ear also a lighter out of her shoe and lit one up, giving it to me.

"Thank you" I said taking a drag, the endorphins from the much needed taste of tobacco surrounding my head, making me smile uncontrollably...Lucy had lit up her own cigarette from behind the other ear and smiled as she studied the look on my face.

"Good?"

"So good!" I breathed out taking another drag..."Listen Lucy, I need to thank you for what you did back there"

"Oh honey there is no need to thank me, naturally you were scared and Carlisle _can_ have tendencies to be very scary at times but I have worked here long enough to know what he wants and to make him shut up for a night"

"Do you ever get....Turned on?"

"No, sweetheart...Fortunately getting more and more convincing that us girls are in actual fact aroused at the hands of our boss comes with experience"

"So it's all acting?"

"Yes...Acting at a very good price!"

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like if you had a boyfriend and had to do this job on the side?"

"Sometimes but then again, I haven't had a boyfriend in a long time...My track record with men has never been good and I guess the only thing to do when that situation arises is to cross the bridge when I get to it...Speaking of boyfriends...That man who carried you out of here the last time you were here...Are the two of you involved?"

As soon as Lucy brought up Edward...His face clouded my mind instantly – I had forgotten about him and the fact that he is also working at the moment until the early hours of tomorrow morning...The sadness ran through the surface and deep inside of my heart...The only reason I was doing this is because of him, the kindness that he had shown me since my very first night here had all been too much to take without giving something back. Paying my part of the rent money meant that he did not have to work even more ridiculous hours to make up for two lots of payment...However, he did not know what I was doing and that in, itself broke my heart.

"No...We are not together; he is offering me a place to stay?"

"Really?"

"Yeah...He doesn't know that I am here, though"

"I can understand that by the adamant way that he carried you out of here and away from the punters and the spotlight. Do you reckon he is interested in you?"

_Edward Masen....Interested in me?! I don't think so!! A sweet, well-rounded guy like that does not need to have a whore as a girlfriend!_

"Hell no!"

"I reckon he is....I saw his face briefly when he saw you up on that catwalk and I swear – if he wasn't your older brother then he had the look of a lover on his face. The shock was uncomfortable to look at and come on, any man who sweeps a woman off her feet and rescues her from the bad people is a man worth having"

"Edward isn't like that....He is a friend, a really great friend...The only friend I ever had in this country and...I mean, being grateful is something that I will always have for him for as long as he is in my life but no...Nothing more"

"Is he British?"

"No...American...I think...Anyway, he and I are both from two different worlds...He's from Pretzels and vitamin water and I am from Gin and Roast dinners!"

"How much did you get tonight?"

"A little over eight hundred"

"On your second night...Geez, even I didn't make that much!"

"Hopefully it can be enough to pay Carlisle the rest of his payment and then...I can go away"

Lucy's face dropped as she finished the rest of her cigarette...Her expression alarmed me, I flicked the butt away onto the grass and crossed my arms on my chest. "What?"

"Honey...I am so sorry to have to tell you this but...I don't think that Carlisle is going to leave you alone just yet"

"What do you mean?!"

"I mean...You have to have sex with him"

"What?!"

"Carlisle has to have a woman like that...It's all about his power and as much as it hurts me to have to tell you this, it is something that is never going to go away"

"Lucy...He is old enough to be my father...It was bad enough having to kiss and straddle the guy!"

"I know, Bella...You have more strength than all of us in here, you want to get away from here but we are too much of cowards to say no to the money"

"I can't do that, Lucy...I have to be in love with someone to have sex with them"

"Act....Bella, you have to learn how to act!"

"Is there any other way to get out?"

"No"

"What about cameras...We can bug his office with one?"

"We can't...The last girl who tried that got beaten to a pulp and ended up in intensive care by one of the bouncers...Carlisle's office is like a bank it is always guarded"

"The police?"

"Know nothing...The only inspectors that have been here in the last five years are ones that have gone home with a worker no doubt for a night of fun"

"How does this happen?"

"France may come across to travellers as a safe country and in all honesty, most places are..._Here...._Here is all forgotten about...Not an inspector or camera in sight for miles"

"What am I going to do?!"

"The only thing you can do....You have to give Carlisle what he wants"

"Even if I do, there is still no definite chance that he will leave me alone...It's not like he is sending letters to _my _own house...The letters end up in Edward's and if he sees one note from Carlisle then god knows what will happen...He will chuck me out or even worse, end up in prison...If Carlisle is the bum-sucker you make him out to be to the authorities"

"Can you not tell Edward, anything?"

"No...I would never tell him – he would move and that is too much hassle as he _is _settled...Has a job and an income...The life that was already in place before I even came into it. Before I _wrongly_ came into his life"

"Why do you think that coming into his life was wrong?"

"If I had never stepped through that park and had him greet me...He would never have to live with a whore"

"Bella-"

"I'm sorry, Luce...But that is what we are...We are whores!"

"I hate doing this as much as you do...But Carlisle offers me so much more money than I could ever dream of getting anywhere else sitting behind a desk and answering the phone when it rings...I need to live and I need to survive"

"I know...So do I...But I can't survive living in someone else's house which they pay for in order to keep lying to them and doing this"

"So what are you suggesting?"

"I have to move out"

"Move out...Where are you going to go?"

"In a cheap hotel...Under a bridge, anywhere the shame of working in this hell-hole does not follow me or affect anyone else I care about"

"Bella...I may be changing the subject here but, if you care that much about Edward then why don't you tell him?"

"For one reason...I cannot bear to think that he is alive on the earth and thinking badly of me"

"His thoughts mean a lot to you?"

"Not so much his thoughts but the way he thinks about me...I have never cared about first impressions at least not as much as I do now, maybe it is a way of keeping the pretence of normality alive in our friendship or maybe...I just can't live knowing that he hates me"

"Bella...If I had a room...A spare one then believe me, I would offer it to you but I don't....You can't move out because Edward will find you again and he will want to know why...He will take offence at the fact that you have left him...He seems to really care about you"

"I know...He has always cared way too much about me, every time I look him in the face...It breaks my heart, every time his voice comes into my head I want to hang myself in shame or scream at the top of my lungs. Lucy, I am a bad person...I am a bad person for going ahead with something like this...My parents were right!"

"Now I can listen to you go on for hours about Edward but I will _not _hear that coming from your mouth again, Bella do you understand me....You parents were wrong sending you here, if they had never wrongly sent you out here to learn a lesson that no rightful parent does anymore then this situation need not have appealed to you!"

"I want to go home!"

"I know you do, Bella...I can try and get Carlisle to tell me exactly what he wants from you and then maybe get a chance to persuade him to want only that"

"Lucy I can never ask that of you!"

"I want to...Bella, as strange as this may sound...I want to see you live a better life than me, a better life than this place....You have the intelligence to go onto whatever it is your heart desires...Believe me, honey...I will help you!"

"Thank you"

I stepped forward and gave her a meaningful hug as she wrapped her own arms tightly around me.

Nothing else was needed to be thought or said.

**Thanks for Reading!**

***Samantha***


	13. Decisions

***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***

***~THANK YOU for the reviews!!~***

*Bella*

It was around one am in the morning – I, on my way home from a gruelling night at 'Beau Lace' was feeling the effects of my heels on my feet...I opened the door to Edward's apartment with Alice's spare key to find it empty...No noise coming from the inside of it – the contrast from the outside a strange comfort.

The kind of comfort that I shouldn't be getting used to. Who was I kidding? I was never going to be good enough to live in a new country and start a life...There was nothing keeping me here but a great idea that could never come true, seeing as my parents would want me to come back home at some stage – they had no idea that Maureen was dead and that I was not living in the house that they had sent me to....What would they say? Have more shame on their daughter because she had tried to be independent? Edward had his own life to lead and did not need a weight around like me to hold him down.

As I got to his bedroom, the smell of him still lingering in the air...I got out my suitcase from the bottom of my wardrobe and took out my wash bag from my drawer...Finding the note that Carlisle had sent me...I shoved it at the bottom of the suitcase on the bed and started to pack my clothes.

England was the best place for me – I had always been protected by my parents and there are some things that people can't do....I was a burden to Edward since first meeting him...The only time he ever makes decisions is either because of me, or he is too busy thinking about my feelings and I do not want that for him. Edward has the ability to go out and make something of himself...Settle down and have an amazing family who will love him unconditionally and will always want to have him around. He and I, are just friends....Friends in life come and go and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop that...For once, I am thinking about his feelings and my own...By going back to England I can plan my life again...With or without my parents say and input if I wish not to have it and Edward can have the chance to be stubborn and take things in life for himself and himself, only.

After managing to pack all my things...I kept out a spare outfit...Making a mental note at the same time to burn my outfit that Carlisle had given me, and that I had to walk home in because some idiot must have stolen my other plain clothes!!

I walked into the bathroom with my wash bag...Opening the cabinet...I took out my moisturiser and various other things that belonged to me and put them in the bag before turning on the water to the shower, stripping myself of the outfit and the memories that came with it and stood still and motionless under the water.

The noise from the shower water running made it easier to let out my sobs that had overtaken me from the thought of leaving this apartment and these people that had been so amazingly kind to me inside it behind me...I guess a few years down the line, if I had a proper job then it could have been possible to live here and buy my own place keeping these people always in my life and in contact but....Carlisle was never going to leave me alone – I had enough money to get a ticket pack to England as well as leaving behind two months worth of rent money to cover me...That was all I wanted, to get money to pay Edward back and I have done that, already.

I refused to have sex with Carlisle...Refuse to be intimate with someone who did not feel the same way about me in return...I need a man in my life who cares about me, wants to help me, protect me and support me in whatever I choose to do and finding that here....Is like finding a needle in a haystack!!

Lathering up my hair took slower than usual due to my shaky hands and silent sobs trailing down my face entwining with the shower water and falling down the drain beneath me....The scent of my shampoo usually made me feel okay about the little things but, I was too occupied with wondering how everyone was going to hate what I was about to do.

This decision is not about them....They have all been fantastic with me and patient when I have asked about the usual French customs that I _still _don't have any clue about...Mum and dad were right...As much as I hate to admit it, they have won...They told me that I was never going to make it on my own and it's true – the only way I was going to make it on my own was to get paid for being a whore and my experiences tonight with Lucy were too much on my emotional state to make it into a full-time, everyday job.

After washing away my shampoo, conditioner and body wash...I took the half empty bottles out of the shower and put these last remaining items into my wash bag before wrapping my towels around me in the usual, all so familiar way, grabbing the skimpy clothes and stepping back into Edward's room...I changed into my proper clothing quickly so as not to get stepped in on by any of the guys, Sebastian and Edward being the only ones due home at some point...I dried my hair just as fast not drying it to the bone as I was always so adamant to do due to the natural frizz...But seeing as I was going to be on a plane at some point, today...It didn't matter what I looked like.

I packed away my hairdryer and took one look out on the balcony for the last time.

"Bye France....You sure know how to scare the hell out of an overseas woman" I said to the air with a smile – even though, inside...I was going to miss it.

When I got back inside the room...I took out a pen from a side zipper of the case and dug around for Carlisle's note.

_To my amazing friends_

_No words will ever begin to describe how blessed I have been to have you all in my life...I have put two months' rent money inside this letter...The letter being the reason for why I cannot stay here and burden you any longer._

_This is not about ANY of you....It's just something I have to do to get my life back on track again and spread my own wings another way._

_I love each and every one of you and I hope will all of my heart that you can forgive me, maybe not now but in the foreseeable future._

_All my love...Always_

_Bella_

_X_

I wiped away the tears from my face putting the note on the duvet cover running my hand along it just once before picking up my suitcase...I also dug my pills out of the bedside drawer and popped them into my handbag once it was around my shoulder....Sniffing, I put the notes I got from my heels inside the letter and closed the door of the balcony.

This was the last time I was going to be in this room....It was really sad but I was doing the best thing for everyone...With me, gone...Carlisle can never touch anyone else who had nothing to do with him.

There was one thing I had to do before walking to the Airport....I had to go and see Lucy, who had given me her address and fortunately I had remembered it in my head because I had no paper to write it down.

I walked out of the door to the apartment and shut the door putting the key through the letter box and making my way in much more comfortable shoes to Lucy's...She needed to know why I was not going to be at the club tomorrow night and she also needed to give Carlisle the money that was going to be more than enough to pay him back. I could not pay him back any other way – at least not in the way that he was expecting me to.

This was a good thing....It had to be, there was no other way....Edward will never think badly of me and my friends would get used to me not being there soon enough.

"Bella....What are you doing here?"

Lucy was in her pyjamas when she opened the door to me....I felt a little bad that she had been asleep and that I, in my haste to get to the airport had woken her up.

"I'm sorry....I have come to say goodbye"

"Goodbye?"

"I am going back to England...Where I belong, I stopped around to say that I will not be at the club tomorrow but here-" I fumbled around in my handbag and pulled out the other small pile of notes and handed it out to her "this should be enough for Carlisle...Tell him that I have gone back home...He will not be paid in the way that he wants...Unlike other people there, I have to be intimate with someone I really care about and really caring about someone and them caring about me in return is something that in my opinion, means more than any amount of money"

"What about Edward?" Lucy asked taking the money from my hand.

"He's at work...Hopefully I will already be on the plane when he realises that I have gone"

"Bella...He cares about you...Does that not mean anything?"

"It means the world...That's why I have to go...Carlisle will destroy his life and he can destroy mine all he wants but Edward, Edward has nothing to do with this...This is my problem and seeing as there is no way Carlisle is going to get his comeuppance...It's pointless"

"I can't make you stay?"

"No...There is no one who will be able to make me stay; now...I was stupid to think that I could ever make a life here. Thank you for everything you have done for me...I wish you all the luck in the world with your life – wherever you decide to take it"

"In that case, you go and spread your wings, Bella...You are far too good for France...Can you just tell me one thing?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"If Edward told he loved you...Would _that _make you stay?"

I thought about the question...My instant reaction telling me that it was absurd and of course, in the real world it wouldn't happen but hypothetically there was another feeling washing over me as I stood in silence for a few moments in my contemplation.

"I don't know...It will never happen so, I can't say for definite"

"Fair enough....So I guess this is goodbye"

I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arm around Lucy – the friend who had meant just as much to me as my roommates in just a tiny amount of time.

"Don't forget about me" Lucy whispered hugging me back.

"That's not possible" I answered releasing her and stroking her face with my hand before taking a hold of the handle of my suitcase. "Au revior, Lucy"

"Au revoir ma Bella" Lucy answered with a smile.

I turned away from her doorstep pulling the suitcase along behind me.

As I reached the fountain fifteen minutes later...I took one coin out from the pocket of my jeans and held it up in front of me....I decided that making one last wish is customary seeing as I would never be here again, the memory of my first meeting with Edward still so strong in my mind.

_I wish that Edward WILL live a long and happy life_

Throwing the coin in...I brushed my hair away from my face and walked the same route back to the airport as I had done on my first ever night in France with Edward...Passing the bench that we had sat on and approaching the entrance to the departures entrance...The amount of people much less and also my passing them and being around them less daunting than before.

I approached the desk easily with there being no line.

"Good morning, can I help you?"

"Hello...I need the next available flight back to London Gatwick"

"For one?"

"Yes"

"The next flight is boarding in an hour"

"That's great...I'll take it" I pulled out the rest of my money from my handbag along with my passport and handed them to the woman..With a few clicking sounds of the computer she weighed my suitcase without any problems and handed me bag the passport and my new boarding pass tucked inside of it.

"Have a nice flight!"

"Thank you" I replied...Turning on my heel and making my way up to gate number '15' shown on the large television screens above my head.

There was something to be grateful for...My house was only about half an hour from the airport and I had already recovered the emergency English money from my suitcase and put it in my handbag...I could afford a taxi home.

I couldn't help the loneliness that washed over me as I sat in the boarding lounge...It was dark outside in the air and I should have been relieved that I was going home and making an escape from the pig of a situation that I had put myself into in France but my new friends had all been such a major part of my life that it was going to be so hard to let them go.

I just hoped that they didn't hate me.

*Edward*

I pushed Sebastian through the door of our apartment as he had continued to wind me up about Bella...He stopped in his tracks when he was upright and picked something up off of the floor and holding it up.

"A key?"

"Must be Alice's" I replied taking off my coat.

"I shall go up and get the beautiful girl!" Sebastian had been drinking, he had not been so nice as to invite me out with him when he had finished work early.

"No...Let her sleep"

"Nonesense...I want to see her, I need to speak to her!" Sebastian ran up the stairs before I could stop him...I, in his absence walked into the living room and pulled out my bed for the night...I also closed the curtains to shut out the night air.

"Edward?"

I turned at the sound of my name being called and saw Sebastian with a shocked expression on his face glancing at a piece of paper in his hands.

"Seb...What's that?"

"It's Bella"

*Bella*

*(One and a half hours later)*

"Please ensure that your seatbelts are fastened securely for take-off"

I tied my seatbelt around my hips...I had an empty two seats next to me and it only took a couple of hours...One hour on a good flight to get back home.

I wiped away the tears from my eyes and glanced out the window...

Goodbye France.....

Goodbye Edward....

:( !

Thanks for Reading!

*Samantha*


	14. Emotions

***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***

***~THANK YOU for the reviews!!~***

*Bella*

Stepping through the arrivals corridor at Gatwick Airport was the loneliest moment in my life, ever...Lots of people that had been on my plane were already hugging and showing love to their family who was waiting for them and I had to walk down what looked like the death row lit up to the very entrance of the airport...The annoying thing about Gatwick is that it may not be very large but it had long corridors that felt like a maze walking through it.

I wiped away the tears from my cheeks with my spare hand thankful that I had made a quick and abrupt exit from where all the families were together along with the taxi drivers holding up boards.

Stopping my movements on the way out...I noticed a payphone – I forgot to take my mobile phone to France with me...I dug out useless coppers that I never once used my old piggy bank for instead the zipper of the handbag on my shoulder...I picked up the phone and dialled the number of the taxi office near my house....This is not the first time I have had to use a taxi; Public transport can never fully be trusted completely and it has become a third option to get myself to school and various other places in the past with the friends who had left me behind.

"Hello I need to get a taxi from Gatwick airport to Crawley, please?"

*Edward*

"What do you mean she's _gone!"_

_I didn't understand it...Why did Bella have to go...Had we upset her?!_

"You might want to read this note...There is one on the back of this paper that you have to read, first" Sebastian informed me...Handing the paper to me...I flipped it around and saw neat scrawl on the back.

_To my amazing friends_

_No words will ever begin to describe how blessed I have been to have you all in my life...I have put two months' rent money inside this letter...The letter being the reason for why I cannot stay here and burden you any longer._

_This is not about ANY of you....It's just something I have to do to get my life back on track again and spread my own wings another way._

_I love each and every one of you and I hope will all of my heart that you can forgive me, maybe not now but in the foreseeable future._

_All my love...Always_

_Bella_

_X_

"But it doesn't make sense...I don't understand" I admitted wanting to throw something against the wall to get the anger out of my system.

"Read the note inside, Edward...It should explain things"

"Have you seen it?"

"I glanced at it...You will probably understand it better than I can" at Sebastian confused expression...I opened up the paper and saw a message cut-out of magazine letters.

_I know you are staying here – you can't hide forever little beauty._

_I want my payment._

_Carlisle!!_

_That bastard who had made her dance at that club that night!! What the hell was going on?!_

"Do you know who it is from?"

Sebastian hadn't been with us when I dragged Bella out of that club...She looked so beautiful that it was so hard not to stare at her stunning figure and natural gleaming features under the hot spotlights...Does he know the club? Will he be able to shed some light on the club and it's boss that had made my Bella run away from me, from all of us?

"Seb...Do you know of the club...'Beau Lace'"?

I had also not known Sebastian when I had been a regular there myself, which even to this day I still want to hit myself for.

"Of course...It is very popular around here...I have never been there, myself-"

"The boss...This is from the boss of that club...He makes the woman there do sexual favours to him for money...Is that right?"

"I only know that the people that go there can have those things...I do not know that the boss or the owner does"

"Shit...How can this be happening...Bella stopped going to that place when Paul, Jake and I took her out of it the night of my birthday"

"The boss threatened Bella?"

"It looks like it"

"Wow...That is unheard of in France...What are we going to do?"

"We have to go down there!"

"We can't...It is late, wait until the morning...In some hours when there isn't going to be any people going there – that club is only popular at the night time"

"I can't sleep knowing that Bella has already...Maybe, even already gone back to England"

"How do you know that she has gone back?"

"It's Bella – she has nowhere else to go...And nothing to keep her, here"

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"I would have thought that she'd have stayed for...You"

"Seb...Bella was my friend – she still is but she didn't see me as anything else..Why would I be the reason that she stayed here when she is clearly being threatened...Why didn't she tell me?!"

"Maybe she was afraid...Even strong people like Bella get scared sometimes, Edward"

"I have told her thousands of times that I am always here for her...Why did she feel that in her heart she couldn't speak to me about it"

"Have I ever told you about a friend of mine back in Rouisllon when I was growing up?"

"Carlos or Renal?"

"Neither"

"No"

"Sit down" even though I was not in the mood to sit down...Sebastian had this amazing ability to make me feel better..Much like the way Bella had always done...I trusted him enough to hear him out...I sat down on my bed as my roommate sat down opposite me on the armchair where Bella had sat a few nights ago before sleeping beside me.

_Oh Bella why did you have to go...I miss you so much!!_

"This friend – who for reasons will be clear is not my friend anymore, her name was Sofia...Sofia had a great life, a family who loved her and a dream of being a fashion designer which she did go into studies for. However – somewhere along the line, she got involved with a man who was a drug-addict and got her addicted to them too. As her friend, I warned her off of them – telling her that she was good enough to fulfil her dream but my attempts were useless. Soon enough, her parents kicked her out and not long after, the boyfriend was killed in a car accident – clouded with grief and also homeless she shut herself out from the world but needed to make money for her habit. There was a club exactly the same as 'Beau Lace' not near from her house...I forget the name, now. She became a prostitute...Paying men to do her favours and that was all that she was known as – all she's _still _known as. What I am trying to say is that maybe, Bella did not want to tell us because she did not want to be known as a whore"

"Seb...That makes sense, but I would never think that of her – I could never think anything bad of her!"

"Minds work in funny ways, Edward...She must of had her reasons...She must know who this man is – there is also a chance that she may have been protecting you"

"Protecting me...I am not the one who needs to be protected she is the one who has gone back home to be with parents that will never care about her or love her with all their souls"

"Bella is a girl who knows her own mind...She has never truly belonged in this world, I hate to say that Edward because I always hoped that the two of you would fall in love with each other one day"

"That's ridiculous...We are from two different worlds, Seb"

"Stranger things have happened"

"I want to go after her!"

"Edward...As your friend I am telling you...Wait until the morning and then we can sort everything out...Jake and Paul will be back here tomorrow and if you want...You can ring Alice too and we will all discuss it"

I could only nod at Sebastian before he made his way up the stairs and into his bed...I was contemplating about lying on my bed down here...I knew already that I could never sleep but at least lying on the bed I will be somewhat relaxed.

On an inkling, I opened my bedroom door closed it behind me after trudging exhausted up the staircase and climbed into my bed...Smelling the strawberry scent of Bella's shampoo still on the pillowcases – by smelling her, she was still here with me – as silly as it sounded, it felt good knowing that I had something of her here with me.

God...I wanted her back....I wanted her back so much the pain was unbearable!!

*Bella*

"Thank you" I gave the rest of my money to the taxi driver and climbed out of the car...Gazing at my old home once more at a distance before making the walk up my driveway...My mum's car was in the driveway so she was going to be in, my dad, however was not in...He would be at work at this time of the day.

Taking a deep breath – I rang my doorbell feeling a little stupid for not brining my set of keys to France and keeping them on me for when I came back.

"Bella?"

My mum answered the door, wearing a dressing gown and her fuzzy slippers...It was still early in the morning and she, standing at the door made the total count of two people I had woken up unnecessarily at a stupid hour.

"Hi mum" I answered her, giving a little smile.

"What are you doing back here?" she asked running a hand through her hair.

"Can I come in, please?"

"Of course" mum knew when something was bothering me, it was one of the things that as a parent – she was extremely good at...My father was the one who wore the trousers in their marriage and I was a little happy knowing that he wasn't here to fire forty questions my way about why I was back at home.

As I stepped into my living room...I put down my suitcase and sat down on my familiar soft sofa..My mum walking over and sitting next to me. "I am sorry...I am very happy to see you back here, Isabella but...Your father will be asking you the same questions I am"

"I know...Maureen died"

"What?!"

"A week ago...I couldn't stay there, mum...I have let dad down by coming back and not living out there which I am aware of...But, I wasn't happy"

"Oh Bella...I am sorry...I felt terrible when your father made the decision to send you away...I tried for weeks to persuade him to rethink but your father is always adamant and insistent that his word be the definite and permanent"

"Don't worry...I am sorry that I woke you"

"I was up, anyway...Would you like a drink?"

"Yes please...Is my lemon squash still around?"

"Of course" my mum gave me a kiss on the cheek and made her way into the kitchen...Why did I feel so strange being back in my living room when it had been the childhood home of mine? Nothing felt the same...Everything felt different but in terms of the design and decoration nothing had changed one single bit. Was it me? Or had I really been in France too long that I had forgotten what my home was like?

"Here, sweetie" mum handed me my glass of squash and I drank it down immediately...The one thing that should always remind me of my own home is my lemon squash...It was a trademark drink for me through my days on the earth.

"I should say now, mum...That Maureen left everything to her carer...Her carer got the house and her money and no, I didn't get into a police investigation because as dad has always said I am useless at the important things"

"Oh God...He is not going to be happy. Did the carer chuck you out?"

"Yes...Fortunately I made friends and they let me stay with them up until this morning when I left the country"

"Wow...That was very considerate of them...Do you miss them?"

"Like hell but...I was blessed in meeting them, without them I would have ended up homeless and even more scared"

"There is no need to worry about your dad, at least not right now...He is at work on a late shift so...Why don't you go and get showered and unpack...Come back down and tell me all about these friends of yours?"

"Okay" I answered with an appreciative smile...I left the glass in the kitchen and grabbed my suitcase from behind the door...I climbed up the stairs and opened the door to my room.

There it was – my old room...My security, my special place that no one could ever intrude in without my expressed permission...Never the same as it had been before...The one place where I could be myself without having any prejudice or scrutiny from anyone else no longer held a large place in my heart...I fought back the tears at how different and scary it was being back here when my father got home. Mum could only truly be herself when he was away and I forgotten how nice she really was without my dad putting words in her mouth and making decisions for her.

How had she coped being dictated to for so long? There must be something there for how long they had been married....But like all appearances, they may have looked like the perfect couple and with me, the perfect family but I had never really seen my mum laugh before, not properly and it was always the little things that had confused me growing up and still confuse me, now.

I unpacked my suitcase and put my clothes in the wardrobe...Keeping the outfit and heels that I had worn for Carlisle away from where either or both of my parents could see them and grabbed my towels folded up in one of the shelves of my wardrobe and walking into my bathroom.

I did not need my wash bag as the products that I had left behind were still there, untouched and ready to use again in the should have been familiar and usual way but was no more. I basked under the hot water ridding the traces of plane, tiredness and loneliness of being back home away...I could not let my mum see me upset and give her the indication that my dad had won the battle with me that he had set out to win from the very beginning.

As I finished, I wiped down the screen and wrapped the towel around myself...Taking my hair products and shower gel out of the shower and back into my bedroom with me – seeing as I was going to be here for a while, I changed into a casual outfit of a tracksuit which I used for going to the gym in once upon a time and left my hair wet and loose.

I disposed of my wet towels on the radiator in the bathroom and covered my chilly feet with a pair of socks, that and putting my wash bag and pills in the drawer beside my bed.

Looking 'decent' which is the best thing for me, being at home...I walked down the stairs and back into the kitchen flipping on the kettle and sorting out some cups for my mum's usual tea and my much-needed coffee to keep myself from falling back to sleep...Seeing as I had no sleep last night it was starting to show.

*Edward*

*(Six hours later)*

"She just _left?!"_

Alice looked about as shocked as I had been as she sat in the kitchen along with Jake and Paul...All looking confused and shocked at my revelation.

"Why?" Jake asked...I didn't know what to say...The lack of sleep last night did not help my mental state and so...In defeat, I placed the note on the table.

"Read the back first and then the middle" I stated simply sitting down and putting my head in my hands not wanting to see their faces when they discovered why Bella had left us and gone back home.

The silence was torture and all I had ever been able to think about for the past how many hours was Bella – nothing felt the same without her around and the more I missed her the more I began to wonder how I had ever been able to live my life before meeting her...I can never look back and remember how it had been because she had taken up such a major part of my mind.

"This is from that guy who runs 'Beau Lace'!" I heard Paul exclaim..I lifted my head from my hands and rested my weight on my arms in front of me at the table.

"'Beau Lace'...That's still going?!"

Alice had been there with me countless times to drag me out, her opinion never once registering in my mind about how much hatred she had for the place and how women should have real jobs and earn a proper income instead of selling themselves to the nearest 'perverts' was her word that came along.

"Wait...This doesn't mean what I think it means, does it, Edward?" Jake asked me, then looking weary.

"What do you think it means?"

"I think that this man was threatening her, Edward and that she never told us...He probably wanted her to do things and so she couldn't take it anymore"

"That's what I think"

"I wonder why she never told us...I mean, what was going through her mind?" Paul asked.

"We'll never know"

"Poor Bella, no wonder she wanted to go...We have to do something!"

"Like what, Alice...Declare war on a nightclub...If people knew about what really went on there, do you think that it would still be going?!" Jake said...Telling her exactly the thoughts that were going through my own mind.

"How can this man get away with this...If this is what he does?!"

"He must have his own ways...He must of found out that Bella was living here and somehow sent this note...Was she keeping it a secret to pay her share of the rent money or was it something deeper than that" Paul said

"Like what...Protection?" Jake added

"Oh my god...It makes sense if Bella left because this man was sending her notes here; She probably went back when no one was around and tried to pay him back but got nowhere...She went on those 'walks' Edward!" Alice said.

"I know...Sebastian thought that she was also thinking that we were all going to think that she was some kind of whore if she told us"

"Why would we think that?"

"Come on, Alice...You have said yourself that the women there are nothing but whores!"

"Those women, Edward....But not Bella"

"Do you think she's really gone home...To England?" Paul asked.

"She has nowhere else to go...Nothing that could have kept her here"

"You have to go and get her back!"

"Don't you think I have thought of that, Alice"

Mine and my roommates debate was interrupted by three hard knocks on the front door...I stood up from the table and went down the hallway to open it....Damn that Seb always forgetting his keys!

"Oh...Hi...I am sorry to bother you at this hour, but does a man named Edward live here?"

There was a woman at the door that I had never seen before, the strange woman was asking after me...I hoped to God then that it wasn't one of my hook-ups from the past come back to haunt me in this already shithole of a situation.

"I am Edward...Who are you?"

"My name is Lucy...I work at 'Beau Lace'...I came to talk to you about Bella"

The sound of Bella's name coming from the young woman's lips made me think twice about slamming the front door back in her face...I turned.

"GUYS...I AM GOING OUT FOR A MINUTE!" I shouted, not sticking around to hear their answers..I closed the front door and Lucy followed me as I made my way to a nearest cafe – one that wasn't the one that Sebastian works in.

This needed to be a private conversation...Maybe this Lucy girl could fill me in on Bella before she had left and the exact extent as to what I wanted to deal with in her boss.

*Bella*

"So...Who are these friends that you met?"

Mum was all eagerness to ask me questions about the people I had grown to love during my short time in France...The two of us sat down on the sofa drinking our hot drinks in our lounging around clothing.

"Which one do you want to know about, first?"

"Oh honey...Don't ask me things like that, I am rubbish with those kinds of questions...All of them!"

"I met four guys and one girl"

"All living in the same apartment?!"

"No...The four guys did, but only two of them were really around to call it their home...If you know what I mean"

"So who are they?"

"There was a Frenchman named Sebastian...The nicest guy you will ever meet...He worked at one of the local cafes which I had grown to love, there – he was hardly around because of job hours which was a shame but he has had a hard life...The next were a gay couple named Paul and Jacob...I don't actually know where they came from originally but they were usually away for their own jobs...The girl was called Alice, she was a little bit scatty but so welcoming at the same time...She lives in America as well but her family owned their own holiday home out in France which she was staying in when I met her."

"The last one?"

_Edward_

"The last man was named Edward....Edward Masen....I met him on my first night, he helped me get to Maureen's from the airport...He is American but he lives in France because his parents died a couple of years ago – he knew Jacob and Paul before they all lived out there and they offered him a place to stay with them"

"Sounds like I owe my thanks to this Edward Masen"

"Why?"

"Because he went out of his way to help you...That is a true friend, Bella"

"He was always nice to me...When I, wasn't always nice to him in return. Being there with him just made me feel accepted and wanted you know? After Maureen dying so suddenly...I was so alone but he picked me up and wiped away the cuts"

"It sounds like me made quite an impression"

"He became my best friend out there...I shall never be able to thank him enough for what he did for me...Yet – I will never know why he helped me so much"

"Do you not have a slightest inkling?"

"No...But I am sure that you do"

"Isabella...My lips are sealed...I am glad that you found some friends...Do you have a contact number for them?"

"Yes" I lied.

"Good – then you can always keep in touch"

_Chance will be a fine thing, after reading that letter they will probably want nothing to do with me!_

"Is dad going to be angry?"

"I don't know, sweetheart...He hasn't said much since you have been away – only work-related things"

"Oh"

"I am sure he will be happy to see you back home again"

_Doubt it!!_

*Edward*

"Tell me...Tell me about Bella...What do you know about her?"

I was anxious to ask this Lucy about Bella and keeping it away from my voice was not going to be an option...I needed to know what went on and I also needed to know so that I could get the next flight out to Gatwick.

"Bella worked at the club last night till around half twelve...She had been with Carlisle to pay him back but he will not accept cash as payment because he has enough of it"

"He wanted sex?"

"Yes"

"Did Bella give it to him?"

"No...Bella was strong – unlike all of us other girls, I tried to keep Carlisle distracted from her and Bella ended the night with a lot of money – however, the money that she earnt was not for her...She told me from the very beginning that she needed to pay _you _back for all the favours you had given her"

"Why?"

"She felt inadequate to have her friends pay everything for her...I remember seeing you the night you took her out of the club but unfortunately Carlisle hasn't forgotten about it, either....When he became desperate to have Bella...He got one of his men to send the note around to your house and Bella then came back to the club. Not because she wanted to grant him the favours that he wanted – she did it to protect you"

"Protect me...I don't understand?"

"Carlisle is capable of many things..Bella knew that the moment she stepped into that office but all she could think about was paying you back..She hated having to do it – I could see the pain in her eyes and it broke my heart to see it..Believe me, it did"

"So did you see her again apart from last night at the club?"

"Yes...Bella came around to my house at two am and gave me a pile of notes to give back to Carlisle...She said that she refused to have sex with him as she could not be intimate with someone who did not care about her on an emotional level...Once she told me that she was going home, I asked her whether there was anything that could make her stay?"

"What did she say?"

"Nothing...But I did ask her a question?"

"Which was?"

"I asked her hypothetically if you had said that you cared for her..Whether that would make her stay..She said she didn't know"

"What makes you think that I care about her any more than any other friend?"

"Bella never spoke of you like you were friends...It was like you were family, her support and reason for living her life...I am sorry if I have got it wrong-"

"Your boss...Is there any way that he can be convicted for doing these things to you?"

"No...He has the authorities wrapped around his finger and bouncers to fill out consistent searches of his office for hidden cameras or evidence that may have him convicted"

"So there is nothing...Women have to suffer at the hands of him and once they get in there is no way they can get out?!"

"Yes"

"How can you work like that?"

"A few months ago...I would have probably punched you to the ground for insinuating that I was a whore but now, I need the money...I did need the money but now it is more a case of being too afraid to stand up to my boss"

"Lucy...Did Carlisle hurt Bella?"

"No"

"You're sure?"

"Positive...Bella is strong and she has been lucky to have someone like you in her life to look after her. I really must be getting back home to get ready for work...She has gone, now...I doubt that she will want to come back here knowing that she has been targeted...As much as I hate to say it"

"Thank you, Lucy"

"No problem...Oh and before I go, If you want a bit of advice...If Bella ever comes back here, again...You need to tell her how you really feel about her, then maybe she won't be so quick to get away"

*Bella*

*(Evening)*

I was enjoying a much needed nap after my long night of travelling to different countries, the peace outside and the silence from the house made my drift into sleep a whole lot easier.

"WHY DID YOU NOT TELL US THAT MAUREEN IS DEAD?!"

I didn't even flinch at my dad's voice, or his barging into my bedroom the door slamming against the wall...I opened my eyes and sat up looking onto his flaming red face.

"Hi, dad...Nice to see you too" I shot.

"You don't talk to me like that, Isabella...Why have you not told us that her carer had got everything and left you out on the streets!"

"I wasn't on the streets, dad...I stayed with friends"

"Friends...Why were we not informed about these friends...They are strangers, Isabella!"

"They looked after me when I needed help...They were my FRIENDS"

"Cut the attitude, young lady...You have ALOT of explaining to do!"

At his remark I climbed off the bed to standing keeping my posture strong to show him that I was not fearful of him on the outside, however inside I was screaming.

"Explain what, dad...How you left me on my own in a strange country to fend for myself?!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Or how about how you drilled into me for so long that I was never going to be good enough for this life...For this family...Shall I explain that you have WON, dad...Because you have...I went to another country and failed at making my own independence!"

"How dare you...That was never a competition!"

"Wasn't it...Dad no matter what I do...No matter what I say it will always be wrong – I used to want to make you happy because I wanted to make you proud of me, a smile, a pat on the shoulder ANYTHING to make you believe that I had dreams...But that has all shot to shit!"

"Isabella...I am your father, is wanting you to have a LIFE so bad?!"

"A LIFE...THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL A LIFE....DAD, I WANT TO BE HAPPY IN MY LIFE...DO THINGS PURELY FROM MY OWN DECISIONS AND NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT LIVING UP TO EXPECTATIONS...I WANT LOVE, SUCCESS, HAPPINESS AND ALL THE THINGS IN-BETWEEN..I CAN NEVER HAVE THAT HERE!"

"DON'T YOU RAISE YOUR VOICE TO ME, YOUNG LADY!"

"DAD...AS MUCH AS I DO NOT WANT TO SAY THIS..I LOVE YOU....I LOVE YOU AND MOM BUT I NEED YOU TO ACCEPT ME FOR WHO I AM AND NOT MAKE ME INTO SOME PERFECT DAUGHTER..I WILL NEVER BE PERFECT!"

"We will talk about this tomorrow!"

"Right because everything has to be put-off when you are not in control, I was an idiot for thinking that I was ever going to be accepted back here by you...My own parents!"

"Good night, Isabella"

Dad stormed out of my room and slammed the door behind him...I banged my fists against it in my anger "THAT'S IT...GO...GO AND LEAVE ME JUST LIKE ALWAYS – YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN A FATHER TO ME...FORGET TOMORROW...I WILL BE GOING BACK TO THE PEOPLE WHO CARE MORE ABOUT ME THAN YOU EVER WILL!"

I choked on my own tears of anger and sadness at my father's greeting for me back home, I sunk to my knees my back firm against the wall and held my head in my hands.

I should never have come back here!!

I miss Edward!

I miss him so much!

*Edward*

I sat on my bed for hours, alone after speaking with Lucy. Jake, Paul and Sebastian had all left the house but I had a feeling that Alice was still here even though she was planning on going.

"_Tell her how you really feel about her...Then maybe she will have a reason to stay"_

"Edward?"

I lifted my head up at Alice's voice and saw her coming towards me.

"You didn't go?" I asked her, sniffing.

"No...I was worried about you...Edward, what is it....You can tell me?" Alice knelt down on her knees and put her hands on my shoulders.

"I miss her, Alice"

"I know...We all miss her"

"No...Alice, I have put this off for so long because of fear of losing her...Losing her was my biggest fear and now it has happened, what have I got left to lose?"

"What are you saying, Edward?"

"I love her, Alice" I choked out "I've loved her since the night I met her...And I don't think that feeling is ever going to go away"

I let out another sob as Alice stood up and wrapped her arms around me...I held onto her letting out all my emotion as she rubbed my back in comfort.

My Bella needed to come back to me.

I can't live without her!

**WOW...That was the longest chapter I have EVER written for LPDA!!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

***Samantha***

**xoxox**


	15. Anew

***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***

***~THANK YOU for the reviews!!~***

*Bella*

*(Two Weeks Later)*

I woke up to the quiet and peace before all hell was going to break loose with my father – he had not spoken to me in a fortnight and I had never missed a place so much than France being back in England.

I stayed here for the two weeks – because of my mum...Even if one parents never wanted to talk to me I can still hold onto the one that did. Fortunately the wrath of my father was not going to be endured this particular morning because he had already sodded off to work...The escape was so much easier for him – a coward who runs away from him...Deep down inside he knows that I am right and that kills him.

After a quiet change for the morning, I picked up my dirty clothes for the week and went down the stairs to put them into our wash room...I threw the pile of darks into the machine and put it on a 'cotton' cycle after pouring some detergent into the small drawer.

I decided then, to not walk back up to the quietness of my room where in the past – it could be only place I can go to truly be alone but now, it was different.

I walked into the kitchen with the original plan of making mum and I some much needed caffeine, when I was stopped in my tracks my hands covering my mouth in shock when i found my mum....On the kitchen floor sobbing her heart out, her gaze up on the ceiling...I have never seen her look so broken and it broke my own heart to see her in this position.

"Mum?" I rushed over to her, my system going onto auto-pilot throwing me against the shock and sadness that I was truly feeling in that moment.

"Bella" she acknowledged me, letting out a loud wail...I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and held her close to me.

"What happened, mum?"

She pulled away from me wiping her nose with the back of her hand...That was the one gesture that indicated she was trying to be strong but...She had been strong for me for so long – now was not the time to show strength.

"Talk to me" I pushed her gripping onto her shoulders, trying so hard to keep my voice steady...It was time for a role-reversal, it was time for me to be strong for her.

"I am sorry you have to see me like this"

"Stop...Don't apologise to me...Let me help you"

"Sweetheart you can't help me"

"I can....But I won't be able to if you won't tell me what's wrong"

"Bella, please?"

"Mum...Tell me, now!"

Without saying a word, my mum choked on a sob and looked down to one of her arms...Slowly she brought one of her hands to her sleeve as I followed her gaze to her skin...As she trailed her sleeve up her arm, nausea flowed my stomach and the tightness of my throat constricted my voice or getting any kind of emotion out of my mouth.

There, along her arm were small bruises in a circle there were other larger ones further up her arm, as well...The bruises still a dark blue colour but they were not very recent...Mum started crying again as she released her gentle hold on her sleeve and sunk back against the wall.

"Mum...How long?" I choked out, the tears falling down my face.

"Don't worry about me, sweetheart – You have your own life, now"

"Stop talking like dad...You are my life, mum and I need to know how long dad has been hitting you"

"I caused these, myself"

"Don't lie to me – when I was a child, both yours and dad's views on your hatred of liars got drilled into me"

"Bella...Stop, you're worrying over nothing"

"Nothing....You are calling _this _nothing?!"

"It's my fault"

"How is it your fault?!"

"Dad gets very stressed and I have habits of asking him too many things when he comes home from a long shift"

"Violence is not the answer to anything...How long have you been suffering mum?"

At her silence, I took her face gently in my hands and made her turn her eyes to mine.

"I love you, mum...You have to tell me...How long has this been going on?"

"Since you left"

"What?"

"I am so sorry, Bella...I do not want to upset you – please don't cry"

I made a sudden snap decision in my head...I was already planning on going back to France to see Edward again mum staying here could surely mean that she had to endure the domestic violence that I had no idea that she had to go through at the hands of my evil father. I had never liked my father, of course with your family there is always a strong love there...Unconditional against your better judgement but seeing the way he had treated my mum had made he HATE him...Hate him with such a passion!

"Mum...Listen to me, I am not going to have you stay here with dad...Come back to France with me"

"What?"

"I will figure something out...I can dig into the savings account you and dad left for me, here...I can buy us our own place and get a job-"

"That money has gone, Bella"

"What?"

"Dad spent it on a holiday home in Barbados"

"Why did you let him do that?!"

"He promised me....He promised that he was going to put it back from his pay check but it never happened"

"Fine...Then I will get a job...I cannot go back knowing that you are going through pain every day for the likes of my father, mum"

"We can't"

"Why not?!"

"I am married, Bella....That kind of commitment cannot be erased by using the end of a pencil...I made him vows – vows that even now, I have never broken"

"Things change when he is hurting you, mum...He is no dad of mine – he has never been a dad to me!"

"Don't say that, Bella"

"I am being realistic....Come back with me"

"How?"

"I will help you pack and we will go to the airport right now and get late tickets...Before dad comes home"

"What will he say?"

"Something tells me that he is not going to care one inch about you....Let me help you for a change, mum...Even though, I should be mad at you for not telling me about this"

"I love you so much, Bella...Do you know that...I want you to know that I am so sorry I have never been a mother to you in the past"

"The past is the past...Come on we haven't got much time"

*Edward*

"What are you talking about?!"

Sebastian had bounded into the kitchen...Out of breath and a worried look on his face...He had thrown down the weekly newspaper on the kitchen table...He was trying to explain something to me but he was so out of my breath that he was not making any sense – it was almost infuriating. Sebastian pointed at the paper as he held a hand to his chest and crouched slightly in order to steady his breath back...Honestly he sounded like an angry bull.

Sighing, I picked up the paper and glanced down at the headline.

YOUNG WOMAN KILLED IN NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING

"What is this supposed to mean?" I exclaimed throwing the paper back down on the desk...Sebastian's breathing had subsided a little as he opened his mouth to reply to me.

"Lucy" he breathed.

I felt my mouth turn into a wide 'O' shape...My mind too in standstill to register any normal and understandable words. "Carlisle has been arrested, the police were sent a tape of his nightly....Happenings and...They got there in time to see Lucy get shot" Sebastian spoke his voice breaking slightly at the end..Overall breaking the silence, I was thankful that he had kept on talking when I had not been able to. "Lucy got Carlisle behind bars but had to pay the ultimate price...The funeral service is being held for next week"

"I don't believe this....I always thought that there was no way that he could get caught"

"Lucy did what she had wanted to do....I imagine she did it for Bella as well"

"Oh my god....I have been so busy trying to get vacation time to go back to England and get her...How could I have not heard about this?"

"Working in the town has its advantages, Edward...There are flowers and letters scattered all around the outside of the club and on the pavement"

"What is Bella going to say?"

"Bella is not coming back, Edward...She does not need to know"

"Don't say that, Seb...I know it may be true, but don't say it!"

"Edward have you slept at all?"

"Why sleep when I have work to do and an income to earn?"

"Edward...This is not about your hours – I am sorry that you are missing Bella and believe me, you are not the only one but you really must sleep...You are destroying yourself"

"Seb...I have to get to work"

"Luckily...So do I, I will be lying flowers down for Lucy when I finish later on this evening...If you wish to join me – then please do"

*Bella*

"Get your passport, mum!" I yelled up the stairs, getting the last of my things packed together as I had gathered my suitcase and my handbag by the front door...I had been successful in getting my mum ready and telling her to pack her own things...My mum was not one of those mums who needed to spend hours upon hours gathering all her things and needing a separate suitcase for her makeup products...Thank god!

"I have everything, Bella" I heard mum say as she came down the stairs...I took the suitcase from her hand and put it with mine, mum also had a handbag over her shoulder...My dad had the most clothes than any of us in this house and now, my mum can spread her own wings and earn her own money the way that she wants to and buy the things that she wants...All I want for her, now is to start afresh and if that meant that I have to live with her, then that is what I would be prepared to do.

"Got everything?"

"Yes...Listen; I have some French notes that I exchanged in secret...Take them for me"

"Mum-"

"Please, Bella let me be a mum for once in my life...Let me look after you"

I nodded in defeat and grabbed both of our suitcases...Mum took the car keys out of her handbag and climbed in...I was adamant that she not take her car because of the fact she had to leave it at the airport but she had planned for her sister, my Aunt who I hadn't seen since I was a little girl to pick her car up from the airport and look after it...God knows whether mum was going to sell it – for now...I needed to get her away from this awful place.

"Honey..Can you drive...I am really shaky?" mum choked as she stood next to the open passenger door...I nodded and swapped places with her.

I could drive, I had learnt and passed the test but my dad had never brought me a car even though he had promised to...Another promise that was never kept.

The drive to the Airport was quiet and awkward...My mum was shaking, silent tears falling down her face – she looked so fearful of being away from my father...But this truly was the best thing for her – divorce was far from her mind, but everyone deserves a break and she had been a victim for a long while and I refused to stand by and watch her get hurt and blame herself for things she has never done, again!!

*Edward*

*(Afternoon)*

As I stood in front of the huge amount of flowers...My thoughts went to my Bella. I wondered what she was doing...Whether she was okay and maybe having a small hope inside myself that she was missing me as much as I was missing her. It was stupid to think that she could ever love me back like I loved her but, being a friend to someone can still mean that you miss them when you go away.

Sebastian had not finished work, yet...I had chosen to go early because of making the choice to leave my own work a little earlier...I put down my bunch of white roses from the local florists and stepped back a few steps breathing in a slow breath.

Lucy had done what no other girl had – I never knew her until the last weeks of her death and it hurt me to think that she had to meet her end like this in such an unjustifiable and unfair way...Then again, Lucy had shown that any woman can do anything – 'Beau Lace' had shut down and there were already planning permission signs going up on the outside of the glass windows for new flats....Lucy had changed everything and her not being here to see what she has succeeded was hard to swallow.

"Hey"

I turned to find Jacob standing behind me, I had to do a double-take for the reason that Jake and Paul always spent their time together, Jake was harbouring a sad look on his face – neither of us could share tears because we did not know Lucy well enough but it did not stop the whole situation from being sad.

"Hey" I replied glumly putting my hands in my coat pockets.

"How are you feeling?" Jake asked as he stood next to me "I heard about what happened and...Well, I suppose I had to come and see it for myself"

"Yeah...I still can't believe it"

"Judging by the huge bags under your eyes...There is no point in me asking about whether you are missing the love of your life?"

"What?!"

"Relax...Alice told me"

"Of course she did...That girl cannot keep a secret!"

"Don't be mad at her, I pushed her to tell me and believe me, it took a long while for her to crack"

"That's good to know"

"Come on, Edward...We could all see it – we had bets on but then we stopped because you took so long to finally admit it to anyone"

"I refused it because of her...I did it for her"

"I know...But she left France because of you...Does that not tell you anything?"

"No...Friends protect each other"

"Bella is not your friend...She never has been, since her first night here you have had that smitten look on your face the moment she walked into a room"

"Okay...Let's change the subject, now"

"No...I don't want to"

Sighing in defeat...I didn't have the energy to fight against Jake.

In arguments he always won and there was no way I was going to start winning now!

*Bella*

"Gosh, this place is beautiful!"

Getting to France had been surprisingly easier now that I was able to find where I was originally going and know my bearings...I never once released mum's hand as we both stormed through the gardens and into the main town square.

Upon seeing the fountain...I stopped in my tracks, I had planned to go straight to Edward's but there was someone who may be able to help me a little better than he can.

Without saying a word to my mum...Keeping her hand firmly in mine and our other hands pulling our suitcases along behind us...I walked into Sebastian's cafe.

He had not noticed me as his back was turned...I put my case down on the floor and rang the bell on the countertop as he turned and gasped out loud...On his noise...I panicked and put my index finger to my lips luckily to get the feeling back into them after lugging my suitcase across France.

"Seb...I need your help" I whispered "you have to promise me, you won't tell Edward that I am here"

"He has been missing you, Bella...So much...We all have!"

"I have missed you, too but this is no longer just about me...I know that you probably already know about my acts at that nightclub and as much as it scares me to be back here...I need to know the cheapest places to rent here"

"Of course but why?"

"This is my mum...My dad has been treating her badly and I need to look after her, she needs to have some therapy as well...If I can get a hold of it"

"Calm down, Bella...Listen – There is a spare flat above here that is not being used...We rent it out to people but it hasn't been lived in for months...Your mother can stay in there"

"Oh...Really, thank you so much!"

"My mum's friend knows a good counsellor and she does do home visits – I could organise that for you"

"Oh Seb...You're the best – everything has been so hard...I don't want Edward to know...At least not yet, first I need to look after my mum" mine and Sebastian's conversation was quiet enough so that my mum would never be able to hear the plans for therapy – having a place was all well and good but if she had been emotional for a while – a stranger may help her relieve some of the feelings and burdens she felt in her heart about my dad.

"Come here, Bella" Sebastian walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around me...I let out my tears silently where my mum couldn't see me, holding my amazing friend close to me with one hand as the other was still occupied.

"Bella...None of us thought badly of you...You are loved and I will do everything I can to help you...I promise"

"Thank you" I replied appreciatively.

Thanks for Reading!

*Samantha*

xoxox


	16. Shock

***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***

***~THANK YOU for the reviews!!~***

*Bella*

"Wow...This is nice, isn't it?"

I stepped into the apartment above the cafe...The kind that was smaller than the one Edward was sharing but it was similar in the sense that it had the necessity rooms...Kitchen, bathroom and one bedroom...The bedroom was up a small flight of stairs, more like a room based in an attic where the bats and cobwebs gather but for now, it was going to do...Until I could get a source of income and buy some cleaning supplies.

I set mine and my mum's cases on the floor...There was no noise from the cafe downstairs which was something little to be thankful for...After putting the cases down I moved to the windows and opened them to let in some air.

The bedroom wasn't much but there was a double bed and of course, I didn't need to sleep – my mum was the one who needed to have some rest so nothing seemed unimportant to any of us at that moment in time.

I turned and watched my mum, her arms wrapped around herself take little steps into the room glancing around like she had just seen a ghost fly past her eye line...I bit down on my lip and took her shoulders leading her closer to the bed and sitting her down on it...She looked so very lost sitting on the end of the large bed...Much like I had felt my first night here – of course mum was not blessed in having met Edward to help her out.

I missed him so very much...It hurt; my whole body ached when I even _thought _about his name rather than plucking up the courage to say it out loud.

"Bella...Is it really okay that we stay here?"

"Of course...After a clean-up it will be like our little, own home!" I tried to sound enthusiastic in my response but all had failed.

"Who was that man downstairs...What have I told you about speaking to strangers?"

"That's Sebastian – the Frenchman that I told you about..."

"Oh...I see" mum replied before laying back on the bed her eyes glaring up at the ceiling...An indication that she was shutting herself out from me.

"You must be exhausted-" I observed quickly needing something to do and say in the awkward moments of silence...I undid the buttons of my mum's coat and took it off of her with a little difficulty before she had gotten the hint to lift her arms up..."Come on" I helped her back up to her feet...All of her weight on top of me as she hung beside me like a ragdoll...Grunting a little...I pulled the duvet cover back and lay my mum down straight as she sunk into the pillows..I laid the cover back over my mum as she closed her eyes instantly the duvet cocooning her from the bad in the world and the memories.

It broke my heart to see mum like this – I had wanted so much to wake up from all of this and realise that it had all been a dream but then again, a part of me didn't want to wake up – then me meeting Edward could never have been real.

No matter how bad things were...I had been thankful more than words can ever express because of what he had done for me and just how much he had cared about me. At the time, I was too busy releasing the thoughts that he cared more than a friend out of my mind and end up being a horrible friend back to him as a result. I guess, in life they really do mean that you never know what you have until you lose it. Not being with Edward for two weeks had been torture in it's purest form but now, there was a chance that I may never see him again.

As mum was asleep...I made my way downstairs to have a look around the rooms and check that mum or I were not going to catch anything during out stay here – I wished that I could have been able to take her over to Edward's but that was not fair, besides as much as I missed him I couldn't face him again – the hurt that I may have caused with leaving him and going back home in my sudden-snap decision.

Grimacing, I used the sponge on the drain board to scrub the sides down...They were not properly clean instead using anti-bacterial but it was going to have to do...For now.

The tears prickled on my eyelids as I finished the sides and throwing the sponge away in the empty bag of the bin...I sat down at the small kitchen table and put my head in my hands.

I didn't know how long I was going to have to stay strong...I had never wanted to cry so much before, even when my dad decided to cast me off on my own to another country never felt as bad as this.

There was nothing I could do to help my mum – she needed professional help, even if it was only for a couple of sessions...It was something – something was better than nothing at all.

"Bella?"

I gasped at Sebastian's voice...Lifting my head up, the tears falling down my cheeks at the precise moment that our eyes locked together. "I forgot to give you a spare key...There are only two copies..I have another one just in case" he said wearily.

"Thank you" I choked out putting my head back in my hands again.

"Oh Bella...What is wrong?"

I felt two arms snake around my chest...I leant back into my friend...Needing to have some little comfort...Preferring to be in Edward's arms right now of course but Sebastian was great enough to have the thought to comfort me.

"I am sorry...I am just worried about my mum"

"Of course you are...A loving daughter should be...Have you heard from your father?"

"No...Mum thinks that she has her phone on her but I took out the sim-card and left it back at home without her knowing. I didn't want my dad ringing her up and demanding to know where she is"

"That is the right thing, Bella....This may be the inappropriate time to say this but...Edward has been missing you so much, Bella beau...More than you will ever know"

"I know...I am so sorry to leave you all so quickly – I needed to stay away but I need to thank you now for letting us stay here...The whole thing with Carlisle is not something I want to deal with right now"

"I understand...I am very happy with keeping this a secret from Edward – but don't you think that he should be told"

"Why should he be told?"

"I wasn't supposed to say anything but he has been planning to go back to England to bring you back"

"What?"

"I am sorry to be the one to have to tell you"

"I don't understand...Why was he going to go back to get me, he has no idea about where I live"

"He was going to ask that carer for the address"

"Why would he go to so much effort?"

"That is up to him to tell you"

"Sebastian...I really appreciate everything that has been done for me but this needs to be kept hidden...I can't face him, again"

"Why?"

"I left...I left and I was also a paid whore – any good opinion he did have of me once upon a time is never going to be the same as it is now, things change and people change"

"You really believe that?"

"I do"

"You're wrong...Edward never thinks badly of you..._Ever_!"

"I am sure he does"

"We have been friends for nearly two years, Bella...If anyone knows him better than anyone else it is me...I have never seen him care so much about another person than he has about you"

"Are you trying to say anything?"

"No...Of course not, I just want you to know that there are people out here who care about you...You and your mother"

Sniffing at the honesty in his words...I reached behind me and put my hands on his shoulders "thank you, Seb"

"No problem, Bella...I am off home but before I do...You need to come down stairs and get something to eat for you and your mother"

"That's not necessary"

"We have a cafe downstairs, Bella...It has to be used"

"No, honestly it's fine"

"No refusals...Let's go" before I could protest again he had already grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the kitchen table and out of the front door.

"What about my mum?"

"There is no way out besides this door and no one can get into it...We will be gone for ten minutes, maximum"

"Ok" I replied defeated and honestly not wanting to hear his excuses anymore..I followed Sebastian close as he still held my hand as we both stepped into the darkened cafe, the place looked so different when it was empty and at night when everyone had gone home...I stood still as he released my hand and scurried around fetching things from behind the glass display and making two drinks.

"Seb...You in there?"

_Edward!_

The velvet voice that I loved so much was now ringing through my ears once again the only thing separating us at the present time was a door rather than a sea...I ran around the counter and crouched down onto my knees placing my hands on the floor as Seb passed me and opened the shop door.

"Hey...Sorry, I had no idea you were closing...I really need a coffee"

Edward and his usual caffeine-fixes...I was much more of a hot chocolate person but having Edward drink coffee so much in my presence had made me enjoy the smell.

"Sure...Come on in!" Sebastian answered him, a little too enthusiastically..As I hid from one of my best friends I began to think that our mutual friend was not the best person to have around when lying was essential to keep a secret.

"So..What would you like, my friend...Cappuccino...Latte...Marshmallows...Cream?"

"Seb...Coffee...Black I have always ordered that"

"Sorry...I was thinking that you may want to have something special tonight that is all!"

I wanted to kick Sebastian in the foot as he edged closer and closer to me...But if I carried out the temptation because of not wanting to know Edward of my presence.

"Why are you acting weird?"

Of course Edward was going to pick up on Sebastian's attitude...He was not stupid – he never had been.

"Not weird, everything is fine"

"Okay"

"So how have you been...How was your day?"

"Not good...I will talk to you about it later when you get home...Thanks" that was the last thing he said before opening and closing the door behind him...I instantly missed him and wanted to run after him and throw myself into his arms...His hold had been the most protective and I had always felt safe in them.

Sighing a little in relief, I got up from the floor and brushed my trousers down...I looked up at Sebastian who was frowning at me. "What was that little show for...He has wanted to see you for the past two weeks?"

"Please Seb, don't frown at me...This is just something I have to do"

"Are you going to stand there, look me in the eye and say that you haven't missed him, that you don't want to see him?"

"I wish I could but I can't...I am going back upstairs...I no longer have an appetite" without another word I ran out of the room and back up the stairs to the apartment...I took out the key that I had put into my pocket in my haste to get out of the apartment and walked in, the smell of dust and damp filling my nostrils and making me feel a little queasy.

I banged my head against the back of the door.

Everything was so hard...I needed to see him; I needed to see Edward so much and I had no idea why.

*Edward*

"Edward?"

Sebastian called me from the bottom of the stairs, luckily I was in my room so I was able to hear him...I stood still at the top of the stairs looking down on him "Yeah?"

"I have been thinking about this all day....Maybe its best if you don't go to England"

"Why?"

"It's not the best thing to do...Besides, you have no idea about where she lives"

"So...I will try and get the address from that bitch who threw her out and if I fail then...I will search...I will keep searching until I find her...There was me thinking that is what someone does for a girl he loves-"

"Loves?"

_Fuck!!_

"Huh?"

"You said love...Do you love Bella, Edward?"

"No...Of course not" I had never been a good liar...Damn my parents for not giving me one good ability in general conversation...In my defeat I sat down on the stair and ran both my hands through my hair.

"Fine...I love her...I am in love with her...I have fallen for her...Are you happy?"

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Isn't this what you were wanting?"

"Of course...But I do not want you to get defensive with me, Edward...I just wish you'd have told me sooner"

"I am sorry...I am so confused right now and all I want to do is to go and find her"

"I know...Well I know for sure now because of your feelings...Listen, stay here I am going to go back out for a minute"

Sebastian walked back out of the front door before I even had a chance to answer him – he was acting beyond weird today...But everyone was entitled to have a strange day every once in a while – no matter how much it contrasted with their normal personalities.

*Bella*

*(Half an hour later)*

"Shit"

I opened my eyes as fast as lightening, only just grasping in my half-sleepiness that I had fallen asleep against the front door..I wiped my face, wanting to hit myself at my sudden doziness...As I fluttered my eyes to get rid of the cloudiness of my vision.

_Mum....Bottom of the stairs...Eyes closed._

_Shit!_

I screamed the moment the position of my mum had registered in my head...How could I not have heard her fall?!!

There was a few steps between us in distance...I crawled over to her, my body going onto auto-pilot once again and the shock proving to be too much in my system backfiring in sobs escaping from my body like butterflies.

"Mum...Mum!" I placed on hand on her arm which was sprawled out on the stair above her...She was still...There was no life in her but there was a blood pouring from a cut on her head...I had no idea what to do. I am not French, I couldn't ring an ambulance because most people here did not understand plain English...What the hell was I going to do?

My mum can't die...She can't die on me, not now when I had only just started getting her life back in order once again.

There were three little knocks on the front door...A gasp escaped me without warning – more relief than shock...I opened the door with my shaky hands and saw Sebastian standing there.

"Oh thank god!" I exclaimed sniffing.

"What's happened?"

"My mum...She's fallen and I need you to call me an ambulance...Please?"

"Of course"

Sebastian took out his mobile phone and started to talk French into it...I kept the door open but knelt down next to my mum again rubbing her arm...Fearing that if I moved her it may make her condition worse..Whatever her condition was going to end up being.

After about ten minutes Sebastian came back into the house "the ambulance is on it's way...They will be here in five minutes...I need to go and let them in, do not move your mother – wait until the paramedics get here so that they can examine her"

"She's unconscious!"

"Your mother is breathing, Bella...All is not lost – try not to panic...I will go down and wait for them outside"

"Wait...Does Edward know where you are?"

"No...Did you want me to call him?"

"No"

"I will be back up here, soon"

How had everything happened so fast? One minute I was pining the loss of Edward in my life and the next my mum is lying at the bottom of the stairs broken and lifeless...Why did my life always have to be put on constant fast-forward throwing me into situations which I had always wanted to whole-heartedly avoid like the plague.

All I could do in that moment was cry...Cry for everything I had done and everything I hadn't done...My mum needed me and my falling asleep had been a huge neglect on my part – I suspect she only came down the stairs to get a drink of water or something...The daughter who should be taking care of her mother in a extremely fragile and vulnerable state had gone and done something like that. I wasn't even there for my mother...How the hell can I call myself a daughter?!

I stood up suddenly backing away from my mum as the paramedics came through the door shooting me two pleasant but reassuring smile as they both bent down in my original spot....Everything that was being spoken about was done in a language that I could not understand....Thank God for having Sebastian around to help me!

I felt like a lemon standing still in the corridor and not having anything to do...It seemed like forever they were handling my mum's body putting all kinds of machines and devices around her as she lay there having no idea about what was going on around her.

"She has two broken ribs and a broken arm...Nothing else serious; they need to get her to the hospital"

"Okay...Can I go with her?"

"Yes...I will lock up, here and head back...Unless you want me to come with you"

"Oh please can you...I do not know anything about France...Or French...I will be useless?"

Sebastian walked towards me taking me tightly in his hold "calm down my beauty....Everything is going to be okay...Your mother is going to need a head scan just to make sure that there is no real damage...It's looks worse than what it is"

"What are they going to do now?"

"They will bring out the stretcher and then take your mum in the ambulance...For now, we just wait and let them do their jobs"

Oh god...What was happening to me?!

I need Edward!!

*(Two hours later*)

The only good thing about being in a French hospital is the service you gain is a hell of a lot faster than the service in England...In England A&E was more of a camping trip...They may as well be live bands playing to pass the time, as well. Mum had already endured the head examination and they had found no real damage...The concussion had made her unconscious – all the medical terms that Sebastian had coversed back to me had gotten me confused so I had only registered the very basics of mum's condition in my head. The hospital room she had been given was nice and quiet and away from the hustling and bustling of other departments.

Mum had to have her waist wrapped in bandages to protect her ribs and six stitches had to be put on the cut on her face because of the extent of her fall...I wished to God immediately that it was me in her place but of course, like always it is only the people I care about most in the world that have bad luck happening to them. Mum had been a decent person, married to a man that dominated her and for what...She stayed in that marriage for me and as much as I was grateful to her for that...It may of been best now that I have had the time to think about it alone in her hospital room that it may not have been such a great idea after all.

For the past twenty minutes...I had kept my head on the mattress...Keeping one of mum's hands in mine...Sebastian had told me that I could talk to her because she could still hear me, but what could I say?

All I had to say was sorry and explain my careless behaviour and I was not going to do that when her eyes were closed, I needed to have her look at me.

Sebastian had gone out to make a phone call as the signal in here was not the best...I would not have known because the only time I had ever owned a phone was when I was thirteen and had no idea about how to use it. Resulting in throwing it in the end because everyone else had gotten a new, updated model within two months.

I had completely forgotten about him...The whole bombard of my thoughts washing away gradually and slowly and the searing stress headaches gone away, as well...It felt strangely nice to have the peace..Even though, nothing was going to be peaceful for now on.

That much was certain.

I shuddered as two hands pressed lightly on each of my shoulders...What was it with people sneaking up on me, today?! I lifted my head and turned around to face behind me...When my hand went to my mouth silencing me.

Edward was standing there, his face sad...I blinked more tears down my cheeks..Happy to finally see him, again...Sebastian must have told him where I was – I wanted so much to be mad at him but seeing Edward there made everything go at the snap of fingers...Nothing was worrying me...I was just happy he was here.

Edward leant down and kissed my forehead once before putting both his hands under my armpits...The position a little awkward – but he managed...He lifted me effortlessly from my chair and for a mere moments my feet were off of the floor...Edward sat down in the chair and pulled me into his lap, never speaking once as he cradled me...I gripped his shirt in both my hands, my feet hanging off the end near the armrest and sobbed into his shirt...The smell of him coming back to me, protecting me and healing me.

"I missed you" I choked out honestly...Needing to say it.

"Ssh I'm here" those words were as simple as anything but they could not have meant more...Because they were Edward's words...As we sat there in the silence, he used one of his hands to rub my shoulder and the other one played with my hair as he breathed in and out slowly making my head rise and fall with him.

This was my home...As long as I was with Edward.....

Everything was going to be okay.

Thanks for Reading!

*Samantha*

xoxoxox


	17. Confessions

***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***

***~THANK YOU for the reviews!!~***

*Bella*

"I just can't believe that your father would do that!"

Edward had been trying to get his head around my explanation as we walked around the town square once again – I had been in the hospital for hours and needed the break away from the smell and the nerves that mum may or may not wake up at any given time.

"It's my dad...He has always been capable of these things I just never really understood the extent"

Having Edward hack his brains made me realise that I had not acted strange because I was also confused – thank god that I had not imagined the confusion and also hatred of this whole new situation...Edward and I sat down on the fountain's edge the memories of our first night in France together coming back to me...Of course, this time there were no iced buns or made wishes. Having Edward know about everything made me feel so much better, I had thought that this whole thing was so misunderstanding in my own head but he also seemed stumped by it, too.

"I am so sorry to hear that these things have happened, Bella...I mean, my parents were the best in the world – like all children say at some point but parents aren't supposed to do things like that...It's against their roles"

"My dad has never been one for the father-role....Looking back, he was hardly there...My mum had made the excuse that he had a demanding job...But it was only well paid – it was hardly demanding for him"

"Yeah...Your mum must have hated being with him without you around"

"I am sorry....Can we not talk about my dad, anymore...He has a way of putting a downer on things without physically being here...How has your time, been?"

"Same as usual...Nothing new"

"How's Alice?"

"Fine...Last time I saw her"

"Has she gone back home?"

"Yeah"

"Damn...I was hoping to see her again...Before, everything happened"

"You don't have to explain anything to her.....She understands, Bella"

"That's the thing...You say you all understand but do you, _really_?"

"We can't relate...But we can understand and I promise you, we do"

"Oh Edward I never thought that I could miss someone so much as I did you...I swear there wasn't a day that went by where I didn't think about you...Does that sound creepy?"

"Of course not...I am flattered"

"Expanding the ego even more, huh?"

"What makes you think that I have an ego?"

"Sorry...I guess it's the girl on guy thing"

"Right...Well, you still have a lot to learn about me....I missed you like hell"

"That means a lot...I was so scared about coming back here – with Carlisle and everything-"

"Bella....There's something that I should show you...I was going to wait until your mum recovered but-"

"What is it, Edward?"

"Come with me"

I didn't like it when Edward went mysterious and secretive on me...Like normal situations where individuals were kept out of the loop of things usually causing nervousness...Edward had also taken my hand in his which was something that we have never done in all the time that we have known each other...It was almost as if holding my hand was going to be a source of comfort for what's to come...I can't complain too much about it, though because with Edward...I was always safe – as corny as it may sound.

He walked fast down to where the direction to 'Beau Lace' was...I stopped pulling him back when I realised where he was probably going to take me. "No, Edward you can't!"

"Bella, it's okay"

"No the reason I left was because I wanted to protect you...As well as myself...We can't go back in there...I can't face it!"

"Bella-"

"I can't believe you are doing this to me!" I spun around on my heel and walked away from him...I got to around my seventh step when a huge grip around my waist stopped me again...I struggled against Edward's chest on my back. "Let me go...I don't want to go back there...You said that you wanted to take care of me and if this is what you do to care then I don't want it anymore!" I was yelling but tears were falling down my face.

"Please, stop struggling and let me explain"

"You are not the person I thought you were...Why do people have to show their true colours to me too late!"

"Listen!" He yelled and spun me around...I was facing him...His jaw was clenched, his eyes searing with anger in the light...I buckled and bit my lip silencing myself. "Beau Lace has shut down"

"What?" the shape of an 'o' was uncontrollable across my mouth in that moment...How had it been closed down...Did that mean that Carlisle isn't here anymore?!

"I promise that no one will hurt you, Bella...Please come with me...It is better to show it to you rather than explain"

I nodded needing to know what he was going on about more than having to worry about where we were actually going...He took my hand again and kept me at a close distance to his side as friendly possible...In the distance on the street where the nightclub was there was a circle of colours...As Edward and I got closer and closer it turned into flowers...With the words 'rest in peace' on a banner in the middle of it. Had Carlisle died?!

"I don't understand" I choked out standing still beside Edward as we saw a huge section of the pavement had been taken up with flowers...I didn't know what to think but there was panic going around my system.

"Excuse me, are you called Bella?" A young woman had come up to Edward and I from the opposite side of the road...I didn't recognise her or know of her, seeing as she knew me I was battering my brains for a few moments trying to tell myself that I should know her as well.

"I am Bella...Do I know you?" I felt stupid asking her if I knew her because if I did know her I was going to look like a fool because of un-recognition.

"No...I am sorry...I remember you from the club...Lucy asked me to give this to you" she buried around in her pocket, without warning I could feel my hand gripping Edward's tighter in my nausea of what the paper would have on it. Why would Lucy give me a note? Was it a note from Carlisle?

"Thank you" I managed to squeak taking the paper from her, she smiled and walked away...I wanted so much in that moment of confusion to go after her and ask her what was going on with all the flowers and why Lucy had sent me a note...I glanced up at Edward who was expressionless his eyes locked on the flowers.

I released his hand and opened up the piece of paper with my shaky hands...There was something that Edward knew about that he wasn't telling me about...I could feel it in my waters.

_Bella_

_I hardly know what to write in this, when you get given this I will either be sitting with you in that gorgeous little cafe or standing next to you in the club, or I will be thousands of miles away...No measurement needed....Perhaps this letter may be my last chance to explain things about me that no one else has ever known about...I trust you enough to not let anyone else see it._

_What I failed to mention on your first night was my sole reason for working in the place which you had hated instantly....In the beginning of my work for Carlisle...I had slowly fallen in love with him...Not in love with him because of the money I was going to earn but the way that a woman falls in love with a man. Maybe it was stupid...Maybe it was natural...I will never know._

_Carlisle was never going to return my feelings as much as my heart desired and wanted him to reciprocate the same feelings for me...Working with him was hard something that I got on with day after day because the money that I was getting had been more than I had ever had in my life...Money isn't everything and it became obvious after my first year._

_I never told anyone else this...Not even Carlisle because let's face it...He was never the person to have strong feelings for only one woman when he was surrounded by hundreds every night throwing themselves at him...It broke my heart. I got pregnant – he has never known that he has a son...I wanted the baby because children were always on my future agenda and well...With the work, I couldn't look after him. I named him Jasper....Jasper Oliver Cullen after his father wanting to keep a part of Carlisle in my life, somehow. My sister has looked after him since he was near to one years old and he will be nearly four now this year...I watched my son call his Aunt 'mum'...Never being able to say anything was harder than anything I had ever done..Even a whole week of nights in 'Beau Lace' – I hope that one day my sister can tell him when he is old enough that his mum loved him...He was always loved and I think about him every moment of every day. I let him down and I will always regret it._

_As for the rest it is not important...I stayed at the club because my feelings for Carlisle never ceased and yes, it was stupid but it is true what they say 'you can never help who you fall for'. Watching you suffer at your last night was enough to make me realise that he can no longer treat people like this – my feelings were no longer important. You taught me so much, Bella...The strength in you allowed me to find strength in myself and this is why I am now going to stop it....Or I will die trying._

_A lot of women are going to hate me...If I have one last thing to say to you, Bella....It's this:_

_Never be afraid to love someone...Take risks and tell them instead of wondering 'what if' and having regrets for the rest of your life...You have a person in your life who cares about you and I am not sure that he knows how much at the moment....But you are loved and if you ever come back to France...I want you to reach out for Edward because he will always be there to catch you when you fall. The majority of young women would give an arm and a leg to have someone like that in your life._

_Live, love and be successful...I am honoured to have known you as a friend Bella, I hope when you come back soon we can get in touch again._

_Lucy_

_X_

The tears from my eyes had fallen onto the piece of paper...Smudging the ink off of a sentence...I had no idea why I was crying because it was only a letter...But the sudden sadness I felt for Lucy and her situation in life made me wonder that I was actually lucky to have people that cared about me...Was that wrong?

"Where is Lucy?" I stammered keeping the letter open in my hands but directing my question to Edward.

"She died, Bella"

"What?"

"Carlisle shot her...But she had put a hidden camera in his office and the police charged him with murder and sex offences"

_Oh my God!!_

I turned on my heel and ran away from the flower site now that I knew who they were for...I crouched down and vomited violently in a nearby shrubs...Falling onto my knees and wrapping my arms around my stomach...The sight of it had made me cry but the ache in my heart was much harder to deal with. Lucy had done that because of me, why had she done that?!

As I finished...I let out the sobs from my stomach...Crying for her, crying for me...Crying for the overall injustice that she was going to face...The last letter that she wrote to me beside me lying on the road.

Arms wrapped around my chest but I continued to cry...Not wanting to move or say anything but cry....Cry and cry even more.

"I am sorry, Bella" Edward soothed...I wiped my nose with my fingers and pushed my weight back so I was sitting on my bottom, my legs sprawled out on the road...Edward had moved back with me but his arms never once let go of me.

Lucy was right....Edward cared about me...Now, after all that has happened...I cared about him, too more than I had ever done during my time in this country...I had changed because of him, he had turned me into a better person..The kind of person that appreciates all that she has and has found her inner strength..He made me feel alive.

"Bella...Are you alright?" Edward asked as he ran his hands through my hair taking it away from my face as I sat there, lifeless...Broken...I had never felt so drained in my life, from all the crying...Lucy had died...The friend that I had been pleased to meet had died doing something that I should have plucked up the courage to do.

"Why?" I choked out...Not wanting to make it sound like a question to him, but to the world...To the high heavens and the holders of fate...Was this all a learning curve for me, this pain and hurt?

"You are so strong, Bella...I wish to God that it was me in your place" Edward was trying to make me feel better as always.

"It's not though, is it...I should just go back home...When my mum's better, we can both go and stay with my Aunt or something"

"Don't run away again, Bella"

"I have to...Everyone must know my name...Does everyone know what Lucy did...If I wasn't so busy complaining about his treatment of women then this would never of happened and she may still be alive"

"Stop talking like that, Bella...You have to stop blaming yourself and stop worrying about what others think about you."

"Oh God what is the matter with me?!"

"Nothing-" Edward barked lifting me up to my feet from behind and grasping my shoulders as he walked around to face me "you are not to blame for any of this, for your father, Lucy...No one blames you...If you keep doing this..You are going to make yourself ill"

"My mum is already ill because of me so it won't make that much of a difference"

"What happened to the Bella that I met on my first night here, full of jokes and laughter...There is too much sadness in your eyes, Bella and you have no idea how much I want to help you?!"

"Why do you want to help me?"

"Because I do...You're my friend"

"I am not worth it!"

"You are!" he was yelling now but I wasn't going to back down.

"If there was some way that I can erase everything and go back to normal then I would...Edward...You are an amazing friend but I burden you"

"Rubbish!"

"I do!"

"Stop...Bella....Stop...This is driving me insane!"

"Why can it affect you so much?!"

"Because I love you, Bella!"

Edward had said those three words in such a rush that his hands instantly went to his mouth the moment he finished...I was silenced because good GOD I wasn't expecting that...Before I could register any common sense in my head Edward had turned and run away from me in the direction we had just come from. I was left standing in the road, alone.

Edward loved me!

How was that even possible?!

In the silence of the road around me...I decided to walk letting the words sink into my head...I cannot deny that I had been feeling more for Edward since being back here.

I can't deny that I appreciated him more than my own life.

From the first night he had been there for me from the word go...Maureen had loved him, his friends liked me and welcomed me in when they had the choice not to...Everything made sense. He had been my protector when he of course, also had the choice to stay with me or run away from me as fast as he could.

I had never met a guy who had been so nice to me...But I never imagined that he was in love with me.

As I approached the fountain, and after taking out a couple of mints from my trouser pockets and sucking on them...I remembered the wish that I had made with him...'I wish to love and be loved in return'....The last guy that I had been with had been loved by me, but had never loved me back....Edward was the one guy who had stood out from all the rest surrounding me as I was growing up...I was in doubt for a long time about whether a man like that does really exist...Now that he had confessed to me...It felt right.

It felt right because...There was no one else for me that would even be able to get close to how good Edward Masen is and how caring he is...No matter how long I lived, I could never walk away now and wonder whether he had found someone different...I had cared so much when I left here about what he thought of me...How could I have been such an idiot?! How could I not have seen how perfect he is for me and how much he could love me from his pure heart?!

The mere thought of him being with someone else made me sick...I have been so stupid for so long...That kiss on his birthday...The emotion behind it, HIS emotion...How can I have brushed that off and carried on living, he had kissed me first by surprise and then asked me for another one..That was not a kiss of friendship and I knew that deep down inside but acting oblivious to it seemed to make the awkwardness go away.

I know what I want...The person that I had spent two weeks thinking about and missing at every second...The person who I had rowed at and probably made angry since I met him by not being a good friend.

I rushed over to Sebastian's cafe...Finding it empty and he was left amusing himself behind the counter.

"Bella..How is your mum?" he was full of concern for me but I put up my hand.

"Seb...Can I have your key?"

"What?"

"I need your key...Please...There is something that I have to do and....It's been put off for too long"

"Of course, here" he gave me his key from his pocket and I blew him a kiss before running out of the cafe and toward the apartment...I didn't have any other thoughts or feelings other than needing to see Edward again, he never had to run away from me...I had run away from him and wrongly so but he should never feel afraid for having feelings for me, did he feel scared that I was never going to return them, or what I would think?

Edward had taken a risk by telling me, accident or not...It must have been burdening his heart.

As I stepped through the door, Jake was approaching me...He beamed and opened his mouth to speak when I put my index finger to my lips.

"Where's Edward?" I mouthed taking my finger away.

"Upstairs" Jake mouthed back pointing his finger upwards...I shot him an assuring smile and made my way slowly up the stairs...Upon reaching the landing, his door was ajar but the breeze from the open door heading out to the balcony was surrounding my upper body slightly...It didn't bother me.

On tiptoe, I stepped inside pushing the door gently ahead of me...I saw Edward sitting on the end of his bed, head in hands still and silent...I realised that it was stupid denying this anymore.

I was in love with him...I was stupid to have made myself think otherwise...He was handsome and beautiful in every way inside and out...He was perfect and the kind of person that I had always dreamed of spending my life with.

I swallowed the dryness in my throat, the last races of mint gone away before approaching him, he never lifted his head as I knelt down on my knees and gazed at him in the silence.

On instinct...I put my hands on his wrists and pulled his arms away from his face which he complied...The tears falling down his cheeks which I brushed away with my fingertips gently trailing them along his smooth and flawless skin.

"I'm sorry" I whispered cupping his face in my hands watching his eyes intently as they fell on mine.

He was about to open his mouth to reply but I brought my head forward and connected my lips to his softly as I could not wanting to startle him...He was still underneath my mouth his hands touched both of my shoulders as he pulled me away...I bit down on my lips as they were released from his mouth...Feeling instant rejection...The best thing to do now, was to explain...Even though I wanted nothing more than to kiss him again, his lips were so soft and I thought there was never going to be anything better than his arms but I was gladly proved wrong...I had kissed him before but I had never concentrated on how nice it felt and I was the one back then to pull away.

"I am in love with you, too Edward....I'm sorry it's late" I whispered keeping the words simple so as not to run the risk of babbling.

Edward sighed and cupped my face in his hands...He kissed me forcefully tilting his head to the side and breathing in and out slowly...The wetness from his tears on my own skin...I melted into him moving my hands from his face to wrap around his neck...I needed to get closer to him...I wanted him, I desired him...I loved him.

I flinched as his tongue touched my lower lip, but knowing what he wanted to do...I opened my mouth up wider to welcome him, meshing my own tongue with us...The tingling sensations underneath my skin was amazing...He was amazing for making me feel this way – making my body mould to him and my mouth move passionately on his. Edward's mouth movements enhanced love and it made me melt even more...I never thought I could feel this way about anyone again, but Edward Masen was one of a kind.

Needing oxygen, I had to take my mouth on his even though I missed it instantly...Edward moved his lips to my forehead...On my nose and around my face...Moving swiftly to my jaw line and neck.

I pulled him closer and tilted my head back as his kissing trail made me gasp in need...He needed to know what he could do to me and I didn't care anymore if anyone could hear me...It was only us, us two in our own little world..Never mind anyone else.

"I'm sorry too...I love you more than my own life, Bella...There is no need to apologise to me...You're everything I want" he whispered against my skin as he placed small kisses along the definition of my collarbone.

"Tell me I am yours, Edward..Please?" I breathed out needing to know that I belonged to him because that is all I wanted.

Edward moved his mouth away and brought his eyes up to lock with mine. "Bella Swan...You have been mine since the night I met you"

The honesty and sincerity in his words made me smile...I kissed his forehead. "Am I yours?" he whispered.

"Absolutely" I replied connecting my lips with his...Standing up and sitting across his lap holding him close to me as we continued to worship each other with our mouths.

I was in love...And there was no other feeling like it in the entire world.

The best thing was, Edward Masen loved me...I was loved and I could never be happier.

Thanks for Reading!

*Samantha*

xoxoxox


	18. Life

***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***

***~THANK YOU for the reviews!!~***

*Bella*

*(Next Morning)*

Humming contently from another amazing sleep last night...I stretched my arm over to the other side, already aware that Edward and I had spent the night together...The door was open to the balcony, which I was also thankful for because falling asleep fully clothed has it's disadvantages – body temperature being one of them.

As I patted the side where Edward had held me last night...My eyes fluttered open when there was nothing there to hold...Lifting my body up, my vision came back fully from my sleep.

There on the pillow beside mine was a big bunch of flowers...White and purple coloured, of course I was not the one in my family to have 'green fingers' and any knowledge of types of flowers...My mum was the martyr for that particular subject...As a child, I often asked her what types there were and then state my opinion of them.

There was a single yellow rose next to the neatly and honestly, beautifully bouquet – a flower which I had stated to Edward was my favourite in a conversation..Being the stunning man that he is – he remembered.

The paper balancing on the garden growing on the pillow caught my attention...I brought my hand up and picked the paper, steadily to keep the flowers on the pillow...Knowing my luck if I grabbed the paper with force all the petals on the flowers would disappear onto the mattress – either that I am going to sit on them, by pure accident of course.

_I had to go to work....The bunch of flowers are for your mom._

_Look after my heart – I have left it with you._

_.E._

Simple, yet so amazing sending soars of ecstasy through my heart...It was so sweet of him to give some flowers to my mum, he was so in sync with me that he would have guessed I was going to see her today – the downside of that being that he was not coming with me to be by my side...The one thing about my mum I have always remembered and a trait that she had carried with her all the way through my life as her daughter is her intuition – if she happened to be awake and Edward was with me to see her this morning, she will be able to see right through me and ask me why there was a 'glow' immediately the word 'glow' to me, states that she may think I am pregnant but my mother called it the 'glow' of love and the 'shine' of pregnancy...Like all mothers, she knew her daughter inside out. She knew me a whole lot better than my dad had ever done.

I climbed out of bed, using my side to not damage the flowers and took the opportunity to have a shower – seeing as a shower was within my reach...Before I stripped down of all my clothes..The advantage of having the house empty, I put my worn clothes on a quick wash cycle using the towel from the bathroom to cover up my naked body in the kitchen.

I had enough time to wash and dry them in the tumble dryer as I got ready for the day...Taking the shower slower than usual.

Climbing into the shower, I smiled uncontrollably as my thoughts went to my snuggling into Edward last night, the love that he had for me radiating from the way he held me securely in his arms...The arms that I had always felt so safe in.

I used Edward's shower this particular morning because my products were not in the house anymore, the rest of my clothes also with my wash bag at the flat above Sebastian's cafe. I opened the lynx body wash...He used a 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner which was the only thing that I can hope to use and my hair was going to be messy today anyway because I didn't have my hairdryer with me, either.

It was not so bad being without washing things because the shower gel that Edward used was so beautiful, a mix of masculine smell but it did not come out as strong on him than it did just coming out of the bottle and onto my palm. Fair, enough I was not going to smell like a girl today like usual but then I was going to smell my stunning boyfriend on me all day.

The word boyfriend sounded great in my head and actually having the opportunity to say it out loud will be even better.

I used the mint-scented shampoo and conditioner covering as much of my hair as possible and washed the suds away down the drain beneath me.

Stepping out, I used my towel to wrap around my body and made my way back down the stairs and into the kitchen, moving the now washed clothes to the tumble dryer across the room, it was placed where no one could be able to see it by the door...I turned the dial onto a full cycle and went back up the stairs to Edward's room...Until the cycle finished the only thing that I was able to do was towel dry my hair as I sat on the bed.

*Edward*

Bella Swan was finally mine and there was no other feeling like it, I hadn't meant to tell her how I felt in our argument yesterday actually it was just a slip of the tongue but I had been so angry with myself that it spiralled into emotion when I got back to the apartment. Bella came back and the moment I looked back into her eyes...I knew then why I had fallen so badly for her and put it off in my mind for so long...She was new to the country and she was scared..Naturally so...I did not want to scare her and so telling her was going to be planned later on...I was planning on telling her but the timing was never right after everything that was happening with her and her parents.

The work day was going to be long without her but this afternoon could not come by quickly enough to satisfy me.

Here begins the counted hours!

*Bella*

*(An hour later)*

"Damn it" I cursed taking my dry clothes off of the kitchen floor after they had fallen from the dryer..Holding my towel up with one hand I straightened back upright managing to keep the towel on me as my clothes balanced on my arm.

"Wow...I wasn't expecting this kind of welcome!" I gasped at Jacob's voice, the clothes dropping straight onto the floor again, I growled out loud but stayed standing.

"Thanks, Jake" I replied, wanting to sound angry but instead not being able to stop the smile creeping up the corners of my mouth.

"Dare I ask how you and Edward got on last night?"

Jacob had no idea about Edward and I getting together last night – so until one of us actually announced it to the 'public'...I decided to play coy.

"Nothing...I had a shower...These are the only clothes I have so I needed to wait until they were done in the wash"

"Ahh...Sorry, here let me help you" Jake walked closer to me and picked up my clothes off the floor and handed them to me, with my free arm I hung them over it.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome...Edward at work?"

"Yeah...I am on my way to see my mum once I am changed"

"He must be a bigger idiot than I thought to leave you here looking like that"

"Ha...Ha...You know it's a shame that you are not attracted to girls...This could end up being a right turn up for the books"

Jacob chuckled taking a bar of chocolate out of the fridge and taking a bite out of it once he got the wrapper open.

"Where's Paul?"

"Work...But, Bella this may sound a bit weird because we haven't really known each other all that long but...Do you think Edward would be upset if Paul and I moved to another place?"

"You're moving?"

"We have found a place...Still in France but it is nearer to where we both work...But with our rent being only comfortable between the four of us...It may throw things out of hand"

"That's great Jake...Honestly!"

"Thanks!"

"Edward...I mean I don't know how he is going to react...The best thing is to talk to him..You three have been friends longer than I have been on the scene – if I am sure about one thing...He will understand your reasons"

"That makes me feel better, Bella...Thanks"

"No problem...Listen, I reckon that this will come out sooner or later and seeing as you have already started the confession conversation...Edward and I are together"

"I can't say that I'm surprised by that...It took the two of you long enough!"

"You could see it?"

"More from Edward than you...Losing his parents lost any care and love he may of had for anyone else...It seems like you are a miracle, Bella Swan whether you realise that or not"

"Did you know his parents?"

"I met them once...Great people, very welcoming and caring – much like what parents should be...Mine couldn't wait to see the back of me"

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain later – perhaps when you are in 'appropriate' dressing" he replied studying me up and down..I swallowed the burning questions in my head wanting to come out from my mouth and merely nodded, walking out of the kitchen and back up the stairs.

*(Half an hour later)*

"Much better!" Jake said as I stepped back into the kitchen, he was sitting at the table reading the newspaper – the writing and main headlines at the front not being in English...I frowned and sat down opposite him "can you understand that?"

"Um...Not the majority but there are some fun English crosswords at the back"

"Never had you down as a crossword man, Jake!"

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Miss Swan"

"So..What did you mean earlier about your parents?"

"Let's just say that not all parents are happy with their children loving members of the same sex"

"Oh shit...Were they really against that, then?"

"They chucked me out so...I am guessing so"

"Oh my god, does that not bother you?"

"It did...But then, I met Paul and well...I haven't ever looked back at the past since"

"Jake...Do you ever want to marry him, someday?"

"Of course...When you are in love with someone as long as I have loved him, it's hard not to"

"I can understand that"

"Bella not everyone in the world is as accepting as you...How has your mum been?"

"Still unconscious but she's stable...That's what I am most thankful for...Are you not working, today?"

"No...Day off...A much needed one"

"Would you mind coming down to the hospital with me...I do not like to go in them, alone and...My mum was interested to hear about all of you in our conversations back home?"

"Making me sound bad?"

"How can I make you sound bad after everything you have done for me?!"

"Well in that case...Sure, I will...Paul won't be back until late and I have nothing else better to do than sleep...Besides I want all the gossip on the declarations of love"

Rolling my eyes, I could only then agree to the millions of questions, no doubt some personal and some general that Jake was going to ask me.

As much as it pained me to think about those questions...It was kind of him to agree to come with me.

I have truly been blessed in meeting these people..As corny as it sounded, I was so glad to have them in my life.

*Edward*

It was my lunch hour...I sat down in the hospital bed next to Bella's mom...Feeling a little awkward that I was in no way directly linked to her by blood...But Bella was not the only one who wished her a full recovery...Losing my parents had been such a hard thing to deal with and I would not wish that on anyone else...Especially not my Bella.

"Hello?"

I snapped out of my thoughts at an alarming speed..As I saw Bella's mom glance at me, her eyes heavy but her expression pleasant..She did not seem at all scared at the fact that a stranger was sitting next to her in the hospital room.

"Hi" i said a little wearily...Not really knowing what to do or what to say in that moment, the doctors had said that she was going to come round.

"You must be Edward...Bella has told me all about you...I have wanted to meet you"

This woman was intuitive, had Bella told her all about me and roommates?

"That's me...I'm sorry to barge in like this, Bella isn't here and I know that she wouldn't want you to be left alone..Are you in any pain, should I get the doctor?"

"I'm fine..There is no need to alarm yourself...Just the ribs that are causing to be a problem but that's maybe because the medication is wearing off. I am grateful that you have come down here to see me"

"It's no problem...I am on my lunch break"

"Not much to do on France?"

"There's enough to do...I just want to make sure that you're okay more than having an early drink"

"You care a lot about my daughter don't you?"

"It's hard not to"

"She is lucky to have you here...I am sure that you have been made aware about her father and I's choice to send her out here-"

"I am not going to lie...Yes, I have"

"Let me just say that...As much as you may hate me, or think that what I did was wrong – I can only sit here and agree with you...I have made many mistakes with Isabella and I have not been a great mother to her...I am determined to change that"

"Whatever happened with Bella, her father and you...That is your business and even if I did have an opinion, I would never judge you"

"Wow...Bella certainly didn't underestimate you"

"I wouldn't know"

"Thank you...For looking after her...I wanted to meet you so I could say that...Her life hasn't been easy and she puts up a front a lot, pretending to be strong when in actual fact she is suffering inside..Bella is sensitive, she always has been but she also has a large heart capable of the most unconditional love in the world – it's one of the traits I admire so much in her"

I smiled at Bella's mom's response..She wasn't anything like Bella but that was not a bad thing...She seemed very pleasant and she did not have to get anyone to send me out...Was it wrong to be curious about what Bella may have said to her mother about me?

Or was I just being paranoid?

*Bella*

Jake held the door to mum's room open to me...I only had one hand free due to holding the flowers that Edward had left for my mum...I almost dropped them when I saw mum, smiling a little at me as I entered.

"Mum?" my voice was between gasping and exclaiming...I rushed over to her and held her hand in one of my own "you're awake!"

"Relax, sweetheart...I have only been awake for a couple of hours...I thought it best not to bother you."

"There is no need to worry about me; mum...You're the one lying in hospital!"

"They're beautiful!" Mum was studying the flowers in my hands...I smiled as her eyes sparkled a little.

"They're from Edward" I informed her.

"Wow...That man really is too much!" she gushed...I frowned but ignored her remark..."I'll be back in a moment. Mum this is Jacob...Edward's roommate and also another friend of mine" I shot a cheeky smile at Jake before walking out of the room...Jake was nice enough to not upset my mum and she had expressed the want to meet my four new friends back at home...Now, there was a part of me that was pleased to have her finally meet them – of course, maybe under better circumstances than this.

"Is there any chance I can get a vase?" I asked one of the staff nurses on the desk of the wing, she beamed and got up from her seat.

"Wow, look at those..They're exquisite!" Gushed the nurse in a strong French accent; she walked behind her into some kind of door for a few moments before stepping out with a clear vase with water at the bottom.

"Thank you" I said taking the vase and placing it in front of me on the desk...The nurse didn't seem to mind as I removed the decorative paper from around the bouquet and placed them gently into the vase...The nurse kindly took the paper from my hands and I shot her a smile before taking the vase and heading back to mum's room.

The smell of the blooms was intoxicating...I dreaded to think how much these must have cost him..The actual price would probably result in me having to hit him for spending too much money on me in all the time I have been in France.

"Ahh...That Edward really is a great person...I wonder how you must have left this country when you have so many amazing people look after you" Jake looked like he was about to blush as he sat in the chair next to my mum's bed, I fought back a giggle as I put the vase on the window sill.

"We try our best, Mrs Swan" Jake replied.

"Mrs Swan...Please, call me Renee...I already have Edward on first name basis" I turned my head at my mum's remark but as I opened my mouth to answer her Jacob's ringtone blared through the room...I watched as he scrambled to get it from his pocket.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this" he shot mum an apologetic smile before leaving the room..I took my place in his seat.

"Did Edward come here?" I whispered to my mum as she laughed at my question, barely making that much noise because of the pain in her ribs.

"Of course..He came by on his lunch break...When were you going to tell me that you had a boyfriend?"

"Oh did he tell you?"

"No but being the mother that I am...It's written all over your face!"

"I was trying to be discreet"

"It's hard to be discreet when you fall for someone...I should know that better than anyone..He is an amazing man, Bella...He will make you happy"

"He always has done...Even when we were friends"

"But now it's...What is it you young people call them, friends with benefits?"

"Oh mum...Don't speak young, it doesn't suit you"

"I haven't lost my youth entirely, Bella"

"I never said you did"

"Look, as much as this country is beautiful Bella...I really must go back home once I have recovered"

"No..Mum you can't go back to dad!"

"I am not going back to your father...I meant what I said about the break and time apart...I have already gotten someone to ring Auntie Gilly and she is coming over tomorrow"

"Has she said you can stay with her?"

"I explained everything and as shocked as she is – she was more than happy to offer me her spare room...That is what sisters are for"

"Right...I'll go with you"

"No, honey...You have to stay here...You have Edward, now...He has lost his family and he needs someone to love him more than you do"

"He told you?"

"He told me a lot about himself...Not by choice; I can get information out of people with the right technique"

"How do you know that Gilly will be able to keep you safe?"

"She's as hard as nails...harder than I ever hope to be...I can trust her"

"Dad will find a way to track you down"

"I am no longer afraid of him, I have you to thank for that"

"Me...Why?"

"Being in France has taught me a lot, and seeing your friends and how much of a beautiful person my daughter has become...It has made me think that I want to be independent and make my own choices in life"

"My being here wasn't a choice on my part, mum"

"I know, sweetheart...But, would you rather come home with me or stay with Edward...Answer me honestly?"

"Stay with Edward"

"See now, you have made that choice all on your own"

"Mum...I can't see you leave knowing that you are going to go back to dad"

"I won't...You have my word, Bella...Besides, even if I did want to he would need to beg for a long time"

*(Evening)*

Mum going back to England scared me more than anything...Dad has hired detectives before for other cases in work..He has probably already thought about doing that to try and track my mum down and that was not something I want to live by.

After seeing Jake off to the pub, I refused to have one with him as he was meeting some friends from work, there was only one person I wanted to spend my evening with...

Edward...My Edward.

As I walked through the house, taking Jake's key to let myself in...The sound of piano playing reached my ears from upstairs...The sound caused me to frown..I couldn't remember seeing a piano anywhere upstairs never mind hearing anyone play it. I kicked off my shoes and followed the sound of the music up the stairs...The sound was not coming from Edward's room...But Sebastian's...Did Sebastian play the piano?

The door was ajar as I approached it, I pushed it forward slightly to see Edward at the far end of the room with his back to me his fingers trailing the keys, the melody more than beautiful...I had never been a fan of classical music but seeing Edward play so easily and confidently in front of me caused that to change. The music and tone were so heart-felt; tears were threatening to fall from my eyes.

Smiling I tiptoed towards him...As I placed a hand on his shoulder his fingers stopped the note on the keyboard low and abrupt in his startled state...He lifted his head as I walked around the stool sitting down on his lap my legs straight out in front of me away from the piano.

"What were you playing?" I whispered looking into his stunning green eyes shining brightly as the moonlight hit them from the window to the left of us.

"Just a little something I have been working on" he answered modestly moving his hands away from the keys and wrapping them around my own in my lap.

"Can you show me?" I asked him wearily..As he smiled crookedly my heart skipping a beat he moved his hands back to the keys..I twisted my body around so my back was against his chest and my feet were firmly on the ground...He rested his head on my shoulder as I put my hands on top of his, moving along with his fingers as he played.

Watching our hands move was enough to make me forget about my mum and everything that had made my life a struggle...There was just us, in our own little bubble creating beautiful music.

I bit down on my lip as he stopped playing...I shifted my body back around so that I was fully straddling him my legs around his waist...His hands protected my spine...I gazed into his eyes, once again lost in their beauty.

"Thank you for visiting my mum, today" I whispered appreciatively running my hand through his hair.

"She's nothing like you" he replied closing his eyes as he enjoyed the sensation of my fingers on his scalp.

"No...I have never been like my parents..She's pretty taken with you"

"It's hard not to be...What can I say, parents like me?"

I rolled my eyes at his comment "to make your ego a little bigger, have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

"No...but I like the sound of it"

He smiled again, crookedly making my heart melt...I leaned my head in and kissed his forehead "you're amazing-" his left and right cheek "you're amazing-" and his chin in turn "you're amazing" he swallowed in response.

"I love you, Bella" he whispered huskily in reply, I brought my head up and locked my eyes with his...Staying silent for a moment as I studied his face.

"What?" he asked me after a minute or two.

"How did I get so lucky?"

"It should be me who says that"

"I beat you to it" I said with a smile as I cupped his handsome face in my hands "I love you Edward Masen"

Silencing his response, I wrapped his lips around mine...A much needed kiss after a long day without each other.

There was absolutely no way I can ever live without him, now.

He is my world...I would rather die than stay away from him.

Thanks for Reading

*Samantha*

xoxoxox


	19. Intimacy

***~I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT....I OWN 'La Pomme D'Armor'~***

***~Last chapters now...:(!~***

*Bella*

I had spent the morning rattling my brains, Sebastian had been a doll and brought mine and mum's stuff back from the flat that he rented out...I was beginning to miss my wash things but now I was able to have my own things back again, much to my relief.

"Bella what is it?"

I had been gazing out of the window, in deep thought over the fact that I was going to meet my long lost Aunt Gilly – after not seeing her since I was around three years old...I can't remember much about her, it was essential for me to know that mum was going to be in the best hands possible....I turned to find Edward sitting up in the bed, a frown clouding his still-sleepy expression.

"Sorry...I couldn't sleep" I answered him folding my arms to my chest but never moving towards him.

"Is it about your mum?"

"I forgot to tell you yesterday...Aunt Gilly...The aunt that I haven't seen since I was three has offered to give mum a place to stay..She is adamant that she return to England"

"You're wondering whether to go with her?"

"Oh Edward, I never want to leave you...I just worry that my dad can find a way to track her down and hurt her again"

"Come here, Bella"

"I didn't mean to wake you...Go back to sleep"

"Now is not the time to shut me out, come here" Edward lifted up the cover to my side of the bed...I unfolded my arms and climbed into the bed..Edward instantly wrapped me in his arms and pulled me down so that my back was against his chest, the right side of my body sinking into the mattress beneath us.

"If you want to go, Bella...Then you go...I have no problem with you wanting to see if your mum is safe – she deserves to be safe"

"No, Edward I want to be here with you...I have only just got you"

"I know, but when you get there...I already know that you will find a way to come back to me – just like I, would find a way to come back to you"

"I don't know what to do"

"If I ask you to stay it would be selfish..As much as I'd want you to stay with all my heart, your mother is more important than me...I no longer have my parents and I wish so much that I did, still...But parents are important, Bella"

"Even mine?"

"Even yours...They made the wrong decisions but your mum is so adamant to be a proper mum to you, now"

"Will you come with me to see my Aunt?"

"Oh god, not more family!" he teased snuggling his head into my neck and making me giggle at the stubble prickling my skin. "I always know how to make you laugh"

"You need a shave...So is that a yes, then?"

"Of course I'll come with you, Bella...I'd go anywhere with you"

Smiling contently...I brought his hands around my waist and stayed still for a moment in the warmth of his arms and the heat of the duvet wrapping the two of us up safely.

"I better be getting ready" I whispered climbing out of the bed, again and taking my wash bag with me to the bathroom...My one this time around..Well I call it mine; it isn't mine it's a spare one.

Leaving Edward...The thought of leaving him made me feel physically sick...I had already left him once and that was hard enough to endure...A second time would be purely unbearable. He will only make me go –selfless being that he is, never thinking once about his own aching heart. It may have been nice to have met his parents one day if they were still alive and I was thankful in return that my mother had welcomed him so nicely, as it goes, Edward will probably never meet my father and it was better that way.

It was nice to use my own products, I made a mental note in the shower to thank Sebastian for bringing our stuff back – mum was going to need it when she was carted off by Aunt Gilly. Gilly, from what I can vaguely remember hacking my brains last night and not being able to sleep properly for the first time, even when I was in Edward's hold...She was a little too eccentric – always barking on about the latest antique deals or vintage jelwelrey she brought at an auction of some sort – I had never once had a proper conversation with her and after I was three she disappeared from the face of the earth...God knows why she never once asked about me, her and mum had spoken on the phone but I was never really that interested in picking up the phone and speaking to her on my own....Chances are she will never know much about me when I meet her today and it will no doubt cause awkwardness but hey...Not all family reunions are rosy are they?!

Once I got back to the bedroom, the bed was empty...Edward respecting my privacy to get changed without his eyes studying me...Now that we were together, I didn't care a jot about him seeing me in only a towel – If I am continuing to be honest with myself I wanted him to see all of me, intimately but being the Gentleman, he would never intentionally make me feel uncomfortable and that is one of the reasons I had a huge amount of respect to him for.

Quickly getting changed in some comfortable, already washed clothes...I clipped my hair at the back of my head, half-up, half down and let the curls fall across my shoulders...Using the hairdryer was not so much of a routine for me in the mornings when I washed my hair anymore because everyone had already seen it frizzy and made no comment on it...The no comments made me feel like the frizz didn't matter so much, anymore.

I hung my towels back up in the bathroom and sitting on the edge of the bed...I put some socks on my feet the breeze from the open balcony door still lingering in the air even though now it was closed. I didn't mind the cold, I never had done – mum said it was because I was born in autumn and for once, I agreed with her.

As I secured both socks on my feet properly there was a soft knock at my door...It opened slowly and Edward peered around, the peering an indication that he was checking to see if I was decent...Once he saw me in clothing looking me up and down he walked into the room, properly.

God...I loved the colour blue on him, I had seen that V-neck sweater once since being friends with him and had always had a soft spot for it...The colour brought out the bronze tints in the ends of his hair and made the lushness of his evergreen eyes brighter than usual...The sweater also defined the muscles on his chest and it was definitely hard not to notice the tone of his figure through the thin material.

"You okay?" he asked walking over to me, I looked up at him.

"I haven't said this before, but I really love that sweater" I replied with a smile, trying not to sound too seductive and scare him off – I had things to do, today and all of the honesty and remarks could be saved until later when we were both alone.

"Thank you...I will say you're beautiful...But then again, you always are...Besides, you will only brush the comment off"

"You think you know me so well?"

"I do...More than you can ever comprehend to know anyway" I smiled at him and shook my head "are you ready...I was thinking we can make a quick coffee stop on the way down there...You look exhausted"

"Thanks...I think I am going to need it" I took his hand and he helped me up to standing from the bed and we walked out of the room together.

The weather outside was chilly, but too uncomfortable – I still did the buttons of my top up in front of the apartment door before taking Edward's hand and stepping out into the day.

The square was quiet..As it usually was this time of the morning, the more livelier it was the later the time...people may only like it in the nightime but it had officially become one of my favourite spots....I smiled a little uncontrollably as we passed the fountain – the two wishes I had made on it had already come true and I released Edward's hand as I led the way into the cafe.

"Bonjour ma cheries!" Sebastian greeted us...It didn't take much for him to make anyone smile at the beginning of the day...Customer service in England was rubbish most people never having any enthusiasm or want to be there working and you as a customer ended up in a mood at the end. Sebastian always brought a smile to my face, that man could light up an entire room by just saying hello...It was an amazing gift.

"Two coffees please, Seb?" Edward asked his friend politely.

"Anything for you!" Sebastian said winking at me before turning to make the coffees...Edward played with my fingers in his own underneath the view of his friend..I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"There we go!" Sebastian exclaimed placing the cups on the counter...Edward handed him a couple of notes and gave me one of the cups before walking out of the door – not stopping to have the usual conversation and banter with his friend...I had a lot to do today, seeing a long-lost relative does put a new respect on anyone's day.

"Sorry about the whole hand thing...I have told Jake but Sebastian still doesn't know" I said to Edward as we walked side by side.

"Bella...Don't apologise for anything" he answered me simply.

Discarding our cups in the nearest bin in the hospital we walked down the corridor to my mum's room...I spun around suddenly outside to Edward who had also made a quick and abrupt halt.

"Listen, I may have to apologise for my Aunt now, she used to be a little too enthusiastic about the littlelist things, if you want to go now...I will completely understand but still know that I love you" Edward placed his hands on both my face and rubbed his thumbs along my skin, the familiar tingling sensations coming back. "I don't care about that, Bella...I love you and I will stay with you" he whispered kissing me tenderly but lovingly before releasing me, I nodded taking a deep breath walked into the room.

"Well...If it isn't Isabella!" Gilly squealed closing the distance between us and wrapping me into a crushing hug...I held my breath and let it out a little too loudly as she let go of me...Her hands were still on my shoulders.

"My haven't you grown into a pretty young thing!" she exclaimed tilting my head from one side to the other to get a closer analysis...I could feel Edward's eyes on the back of my head and guessed immediately that he'd be trying to keep his laughter in.

"How are you, Gilly?"

"I am well, pudding...When your mother rang me to explain what happened I just had to come and see for myself...How did you end up in this place, Isabella!"

"I actually quite like it" I replied in defence, clenching my fists together at my side ever so slightly...This is where the snobby comments started.

"Hello Edward" Mum greeted with a smile.

"Ah my, who is this strapping young Gentleman?" I wanted so much to take the vase that was still filled with Edward's flowers in it and smash my Aunt around the head with it.

"Gilly this is my...Best friend, Edward" as I finished...I saw mum shoot me a glare, not out of anger but more astonishment as she knew that we were more than best friends, now.

"My...I bet you have the girls all fighting over you!"

"I only have eyes for one" Edward replied as he shook her hand...I bit down on my lip at what he said but Gilly seemed too busy studying him to notice the hidden meaning in his remark.

"Gilly-" I called her name to take her eyes off of my boyfriend, which she did eventually "mum was saying that you had offered her a place to stay"

"I sure have...She cannot stay here, it's bad enough that you do, Isabella and don't you worry your pretty little head about a thing...I will not let your daddy anywhere near her"

"Okay"

"I have never liked your father and now, I can say it freely"

"Gilly-" mum tried to warn her sister but it fell on deaf ears.

"Always so superior to everyone around him and yet...A coward through and through"

"Gilly-"

"I mean, I know I am not one to talk...Marrying a Police Officer and everything but my hubby is no coward...He knows how to defend himself and he sure as hell does not hit a woman!"

Now I know why I had never made any contact with her...In my anger, I flew out of the room...Her remarks making me see red. How dare she have the guts to say such things about my dad in front of my mum, they had married because they were in love with each other and Gilly is not so faithful, I had heard information from my dad regarding her flings and soirees of cheats on her husband.

Sitting down on a nearby chair, I put my face in my hands breathing deeply to calm myself.

"Bella, baby" the velvet voice I adored so much made me lift my head from the darkness.

"I'm sorry...I just saw red...She infuriates me, now..I am glad I didn't stay in contact with her"

"Not all relatives are nice"

"She's not so perfect...She flirts all the time behind her husband's back and in honesty, I was always fond of my Uncle Geoffery"

"Bella it's okay...You have every right to be angry"

"I need to do this...If I can get through this one day then we can go back home and be alone"

"Of course we can!"

*(Evening)*

Gilly had gone from the hospital early so Edward and I could spent some quality talking time with my mother...She was so apologetic but the two of us kept brushing them off..It was not mum's fault that her sister was bonkers and heartless.

I had to check with the doctor on mine and Edward's way home on mum's progress...In simple English he said that she could be discharged either today or tomorrow.

Mum understood my exit, the sleeping meds already taken their toll on her for the undisturbed sleep ahead.

Edward and I walked home in silence, hand in hand...It was almost as if we didn't know what to say to each other and this day was already a first for everything...I sat down on Edward's bed putting my head in my hands as he walked out of the room...He said he was going to do something but I was deep into my own overloaded mind that I never heard what he was actually doing.

In my system of emotional state, which I had grown to know for a long time now usually consisted of either anger or sadness...Never having or experiencing both at the same time but as I sat alone on my boyfriend's bed...The tears made an unwelcome entrance the wetness seeping onto my hands. I didn't know whether I was crying out of anger, sadness or another feeling unrecognisable because of the repeat of my Aunt's words in my hand banging through them and making the tears fall harder.

"Hey" Edward soothed, his voice so sudden that it had made me gasp in the darkness his hands soothing my wrists. "Bella tell me what is wrong?" he asked me taking my hands away from my face...At his touch, I could do anything that is why I needed him in my life so much.

"I don't know...You must really hate this!"

"Hate what?"

"Meeting my family...It would have been easier to not meet them at all – if my dad hadn't been such a prick and treated my mum like that!"

"It's not your fault, Bella...You do get some crazy ideas in that head of yours"

"I just wonder what you are thinking...Please tell me what you are thinking?"

"I am thinking that you are the most amazing thing in my life...I never once thought that I'd find it in my heart to love again through my grief but along you came, Bella Swan...Turning me around in more ways that one...I am so grateful for you, sweetheart"

Edward always spoke with such honesty...The kind of honesty that made someone feel so much better about themselves beyond normal word descriptions...The best thing about it was, he was mine...And I was his.

"Kiss me, Edward?" I asked him in a whisper...He leant his head in and I wrapped my arms around his neck bringing him closer to me the moment our mouths touched, lingering on each other before I opened my mouth further and caressed my tongue with his...His moan vibrating on my lips...I desired him more than ever, now and my body had already turned onto auto pilot – my actions hopefully gushing out my feelings for him. I stood up, he being in sync with me came up from his knees and wrapped his arms around my body, securing me as our mouths moved.

I would do anything for Edward...Absolutely anything in the world...Love had never been something that I had experienced mutually with my ex boyfriend but this, with Edward...This is love, this was my love..All of it waving out from my heart and into the movements of my mouth.

I took my mouth off of his, needing to breathe but also to trail my mouth down along his defining jaw line and soft flawless, skin along his neck...His Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed above me...I was not embarrassed to show my affection for him, not embarrassed about taking the lead with my kissing trail...I needed him. Without lifting my head, I took my arms away from his neck brought my fingers up to the hem of his shirt...I held it tightly in both my hands and lifted my mouth off of his collarbone to lift it off of him completely...Edward lifted his arms a little shakily – in my haste to have my fingers on his skin, I threw the jumper across the room and touched my hands flat on his chest.

"Bella" Edward said huskily but steadily.

"Ssh" I silenced him softly and trailed my fingers along his toned Pecs, abdominals and hips...Kissing every spot that my fingers left behind always making him feel special as much as I could because he was special, the most special person to me..Ever!

With shaky fingers due to my desire for him, I undid the button of his jeans and trailed down the zipper managing to do both those things when he grabbed hold of my wrists and held them away from the area – I lifted my head.

"Bella...We don't have to do this...I don't want you to feel uncomfortable" DAMN him and his gentlemanly ways...He was obviously needing this as much as me and yet he was willing to stop if I wanted to...How did I get so lucky to have a man like him love me?

"I want this...I want this so much, Edward" I whispered running my hands through his hair as he groaned uncontrollably at the feel of my hands. "Make love to me, Edward" I whispered...He grabbed a hold of my waist again and crashed his lips to mine, urgency and passion enhancing from the hasty movements of his mouth on mine...I could never get enough of him, I would spend the rest of my life just kissing him because he was such an amazing kisser...I kept my mouth at his pace but stopped them suddenly when he hoisted me upwards into the air, I wrapped my legs around his hips feeling his erection against me...How was I able to do that to him...He could make me do anything with one touch to my skin but...Me, how was that possible?

Indulging in my mouth, he twisted us around and walked to the bed, his mouth all over my face and my neck, not in a horrible way but a beautiful way..Every mould of his mouth to my skin set my soul alight...He bent down and pulled the duvet cover back and then landed with me gently onto the mattress...I sunk my head back into the pillows beneath my head gasping as he moved his head down to kiss my neck...At the same time as my head went back, my neck pushed forward needing more of him.

This man was going to be the death of me!!

"I adore you, Bella Swan" he whispered against the skin on my collarbone..All I could do was squirm underneath him, my hips bucking against his without my brain ever registering if that was the right thing to do or not in this kind of intimate situation...Lifting my arms, Edward then took off my top, our almost bare chests melding together as he kissed me again on the mouth...I had never really liked my body, even though I was thin – I still had my self-conciousness like the majority of the world but having Edward see me never once made me want to cover up – he made me feel amazing.

Edward disconnected our mouths and moved his to my covered breasts, the skin but also the skin underneath the fabric of my bra...I needed it off so badly but I didn't want to look too eager or persistent in that moment of my want and pure need.

Like magic...Edward undid the clasp of my bra at my back and removed it slowly letting the straps fall down my arms the sensations of both his mouth and the lightness of the straps giving me goose bumps...Lifting my hands from the mattress, he removed it completely and his mouth began to work on my breasts...His hand coming to knead one as he worshipped the other one and vice versa...The tingles and ecstasy through my body were indescribable..I moved my hands to his hair massaging his scalp that I knew he loved me doing so much.

"So beautiful!" Edward said after finishing with my breasts moving down my stomach...I flinched as he got to my jeans...The being half-naked didn't worry me as much as being fully exposed to him, wanting it and thinking about it was a lot different than doing it in reality....I took in a deep breath needing to rid myself of these feelings and thoughts of doubt..The need to have Edward was much larger and the worst thing to do is burst the bubble and ruin the moment for the both of us.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked looking up at me, his thumbs hooked around the waistband of my jeans..I nodded my eyes heavy in lust as he undid my button and trailed down the zipper..In anticipation, I clenched my stomach muscles tightly...My jeans moving slowly down my legs to my feet where Edward took them off completely from my body...I was now in nothing but my knickers...Feeling the blush rise to my cheeks.

Closing my eyes, feeling like I wanted to hit myself...I rubbed my face a couple of times and took my hands away, gasping as Edward's eyes locked with mine....I swallowed.

"I have never been very confident with my body" I stated simply keeping my voice low.

"Why...You're exquisite?" Edward asked, I smiled at his choice of words.

"I guess having the person you love seeing you makes you a bit paranoid" I was truly ruining the moment...Of course, something so perfect had to be run over by my own self-opinion.

"Bella...Look at me...I am not going to pressure you into anything...I will stop if you want me to, but know this, Bella...No other woman has ever come near to you...Nothing in my life has ever compared to you...My feelings may not be much but they are genuine..You are the most stunning woman on this earth...Your soul, your heart...Everything about you and I love you so very much, Bella"

"No...I don't want you to stop...I love you, Edward...Please know that!"

"I do, baby...I am here and no one is going to hurt you, not anymore...It's just us...Me and you, Bella"

In assurance, I kissed him deeply before he lifted himself up off of the bed, taking off his trousers and revealing his black boxers...It was so hard not to throw myself at him then and there, he can say that I am beautiful but he is a GOD! In silence, I lifted my body up and crouched on my knees, the mattress soft underneath me..He looked at me wearily...I reached out one of my hands to the waistband of his boxers and pulled them towards me, making him move with them once he was in touching distance...I attacked his mouth his hands going into my hair and massaging my scalp.

Needing to have him surrounded me once again I took my mouth away from his and hooked my hands on the waistband of his boxers..Only this time trailing them down to his knees...He kicked them off easily...Bringing my head up...I lay down flat on the bed and took off my own knickers allowing him to see me, I was putting myself in a very vulnerable position by doing so but I needed to see the look on his face.

Edward moaned as the last garment left my body...He climbed back onto the bed and over me..I scooted my body so that it was facing length ways from the headboard to the door...His moan was enough to make me believe he wanted me in return.

"This may be uncomfortable for you, Bella...I will be as gentle as I can" he assured me, reaching over and taking something out of his bedside drawer..Which can't be anything else but a condom and put it on swiftly before positioning himself.

"It's okay, Edward...I trust you" I replied to him...With a deep breath Edward entered me, it was a little discomforting to start off with but he was gentle..Pulling out and back in a couple of more times before completely filling me.

It felt strange but a GREAT kind of strange...Edward was everywhere – we were both connected in every way possible...I held onto his shoulders and brought him closer to me kissing him as our hips moved beneath us...In perfect synch...He was gentle and it felt so amazingly good to feel someone like that, again...Only this time having your love returned.

"I love you" I whispered moving my head to his neck...His hips gradually moving faster...Increasing his speed inside me, reaching every area and hitting every amazing spot...Edward had done this before, there was no doubt in my mind about it...He hit a good spot throwing my head back up he kissed my face never leaving anything left...The tightening sensation I had only experienced once came into my lower abdomen as I slowly began to build, moving my own hips faster against his – making him go deeper.

Both our breathing picked up as we climbed together, his breath all over my face before burying his head into my neck groaning against my shoulder, his sound muffled so as not to draw attention to ourselves.

I was so close to release...I hoped then that he was too, not holding on anymore...I let go riding the waves of ecstasy as I came down from the most amazing orgasm...Ever, I have never had experience of them to count on both hands but Edward Masen was a master.

He was my master – and that was the best medicine of all to swallow.

Thanks for Reading!

*Samantha*

xoxoxoxox


	20. Reunited

*Bella*

*(Evening)*

The moment I had landed in England...The thought suddenly came to me...There was no way that I could ever intentionally leave Edward or live my life knowing that I had lost the best thing that has ever happened to me...My mum had my Aunt...She probably would have wanted me to stay but of course, being so wound up in her feelings in my heart...And with Edward's insistence..I went away.

It may seem a little crazy and stupid...But, I never stayed in England...Not long enough...I had boarded the next plane back to France.

My life was mine to live...For once, I took the stubborn approach..Without Edward there is no life and there can never be any life. It just took me a whole wasted flight for me to realise it.

I hated my Aunt Gilly and the thought of my mum being with her but my mum was the reason I was sent out to France in the first place – I may have never met Edward at all if my dad hadn't been such a prick!

The flight was long and tiring but there was something waiting for me at the end of it...My life's purpose which I have been searching years for...I had an excuse to live and breathe.

Edward Masen.

I stepped into the apartment with my old key which I had never given back...Even though I was planning to, the goodbye to my Edward at the airport was more than enough strain on my thoughts to take away any sense or saneness left.

As I closed the door gently, Paul came out of the living room...I saw his eyes light up but immediately thinking that he was going to shout I placed my index finger on my lip with my free hand...Honestly, a bit shocked to see him myself...Using the hand to hold my lip for a moment that wasn't holding my suitcase and he nodded in response.

"Is Edward upstairs?" I mouthed barely whispering and making any noise as he nodded again with a proud sort of smile and expression on his face before I climbed the stairs on tiptoes thankful that I had taken the time to remove my shoes beforehand.

As I got to the landing, I saw that Edward's door was slightly ajar – I stepped in, the breeze hitting me from the open doors leading out onto the ever so amazingly beautiful balcony.

There was my sweetheart, sleeping on his bed his beautiful torso shining off of the light on the landing, closing the door to get rid of the spectrum...I put my case down and tiptoed closer to my love forcing the smile off of my face as I imagined the look on his own face when he saw me again...Our little reconciliation after only hours of being away from each other. Both of us had been so sad to see the other one go and it was bound to have had some affect on his system – that _and _the fact that he works ridiculous work hours in all the time that I had come to know him and gradually fall in love with him.

I came to a standstill beside his bed watching his face as he slept...So peaceful, his breathing deep but slow as his muscular chest rose up and down...I leaned my upper body down...My face inches away from his and opened my mouth to speak.

"Edward?" I whispered...Taking out my index finger from my pocket and trailing along his forehead smoothly, the softness of his skin sending tingles through to my very soul...From his forehead, I moved to his cheeks and along his jaw-line...There was a soft moan and Edward tilted his head to the left and fluttered his eyes open...A confused and sleepy expression clouding his handsome face as his eyes locked with mine.

"Bella?" he said softly and just audibly for me to hear him.

"Hi" I replied in a whisper smiling at him in greeting.

"What are you-"

"Ssh" I used my index finger to place it on his lips...He needed to wake up and of course, I needed the time to explain why I had come back...Basically a much needed monologue on my part.

"Let me explain...I came back here, not just to say how much I love you but also to say that...I don't want to leave you, Edward. From the moment we said goodbye, there was a huge aching in my heart that I knew I could never be able to shift even if I live for the next twenty years...In my mind, there shall always be backward glances and questions of 'what if'. As soon as I entered the arrivals lounge – I had a choice...I could go back and live the same life, with nothing ever changing – expectations forever being planted on my shoulders, looks of disappointment or I could go back and be with the person who IS my life purpose...You're my life, Edward...And I love you so much from every area of my soul and everything that I am...I want to belong to you...Spend my life with you – that is, if you'll have me." Tears fell down my face as I lifted my finger away from his lips and cupped his cheek in my hand...Waiting eagerly for his response.

Edward shifted in silence, moving his body up to sitting as he cupped my face in both his hands..I as a result of the new position had to lean my hands against the mattress to stay upright.

"Bella, you don't know how long I've waited for you – needing to fill that gap of emptiness...I don't have much, Bella...I don't have a family and right now, no life plan but...There is one thing that I'll always want and always need...That is you, my love...I love you so much, it hurts."

"Always mine, Edward" I answered softly...In the moment of silence I leant my head in closing the gap between us and brushed my lips on his as he quivered and sighed contently underneath my mouth before taking complete lead of the kiss...Opening my mouth and letting his tongue glide gently through to mine, caressing and reaching every area making my knees buckle as I responded rather violently to his kiss working my tongue and battling for dominance with him..I moaned against his mouth as he inched closer and closer to me still never once stopping our hard working mouths in the silence and peacefulness of the room.

Edward and I were together again, reconciled against all the odds and against anyone else's intentions, I have lived so long living the life my parents want me to – that now, there is nowhere else I wanted to be but in Edward's arms...That is my heaven and always will be.

"Edward" I took my mouth away from his and took in much needed oxygen "I need to have a shower"

"Why?" Edward breathed moving his lips to my forehead, nose, eyelids and jaw making me immediately lean into his mouth harder from my own desire for him.

"I have plane on me" I answered simply...He took his lips away from my skin and locked his eyes with mine again, the beautiful evergreen shade on dark chocolate.

"I don't care about what you smell like...You will always be the most special and amazing thing in my life, Bella...And you always smell great" Edward's voice was husky – pure sexiness pulling my vulnerable soul under in the depths of their power...He knew what he could do to me and the cheeky sod was now using it to his advantage.

"Edward...Don't speak like that...You know what you do to me"

"I don't do anything I am not proud of, Bella...Stay with me" he pleaded moving his lips to my neck, then making me tilt my head back to give him more space.

"I can't"

"Please?"

The plead made me entirely at his mercy as he continued to ravish my neck in heart-warming kisses...I sighed and nodded under his mouth...I felt him smile against my skin before taking his lips off of mine and looking up at me.

It was Edward's turn, then to connect our mouths again...I kept my mouth still letting him move them and reach the insides of my mouth as he does so amazingly well...I leant forward further and he must of noticed as he pried one of my hands off of the duvet and pulled me forward.

"Come here" he whispered kissing me again..I got up onto the mattress balancing my weight on my knees before Edward guided me into the space next to him underneath the duvet..He was only in his boxers and I was fully clothes but kissing him was taking up most of my concentration.

_God, did I love him...I would do anything for him!_

I snuggled closely to Edward as he wrapped his arms around me cocooning me from the rest of the world and leaving us the only two people left to worry about...He stroked down both sides of my waist as we both leant against his pillows..I put my own hands on his chest continuing to moan against his mouth as he worked it as expertly as he would his piano....As his fingers lightly brushed the sides of my breasts..I quivered instantly shaking against his moving lips...Giving him the instant indication of my desire for him – I wanted so much to take off my clothes in that moment but holding back was needed here...Edward had clearly not finished just kissing me, yet.

I was a little relieved when he finally took his lips off of mine and moved the trail to my neck – only this time he pushed my body like a ragdoll so that I was flat my back against the mattress he hovered above me from the side and then hitched one of his legs over to work his way down my covered body. I lost it in that simple movement and sunk my header deeper into the pillows trying hard to fight the urge to strip down.

"Always so beautiful, Bella...You never believe it but you should" he whispered huskily kissing my chest and my breasts through my top bringing his hands out to knead them...His lower body resting on mine...His erection so close to where I needed him..My hips started to buck involuntarily at the contact...The goose bumps from Edward's mouth carving my skin through my clothes...I felt his fingers touch the hem of my top and the self-control went completely out of the window...I could never deny him when I needed him so much like this.

Lifting up my arms he took the top completely off of me, my chest once again against his own through his T-shirt – this time when Edward and I were together, I could never be in a position to doubt his feelings for me or the feelings I had about myself.

Edward unclasped my bra and exposed my chest to him...I wound my hands in his hair keeping him close to me, moving my own mouth against his forehead.

Gasping, he moved down my body taking the waistband of my jeans in his hold and taking them off of me, the slowness torturing me...Now, I wasn't covering my face – I didn't need to, I had everything I ever needed in the world hovering over me, right now.

"Please, Edward?" I pleaded sinking my head back and tilting it against the pillows...The breeze on my legs to the air around me made me tingle more than ever without having Edward's mouth on me.

"What is it, baby...Tell me what you want, my darling?" he whispered kissing the centre of my stomach and dipping his tongue into my belly button, causing me to squirm.

"I need you so much my love" breathing in answer I grabbed his arms and pulled him down further onto me, hungrily kissing his mouth as he moaned against my lips...Abruptly he lifted up onto his knees and cleverly removed his boxers my legs hiding the view of him for a few moments, he took them off from around his ankles and put them down on the floor as he moved to the bedside table..I wrapped my hand around his wrist to stop him.

"It's alright, Edward...Please" he never knew about the pill but trusting me, he nodded and slowly took off my last item of clothing, the two of us now exposed to each other once again.

"Are you sure, Bella?"

"I'm protected...Trust me...I love you"

He took a hold of my thighs and wound them round his waist as he balanced all of his weight onto his knees, entering me swiftly the feeling so amazing that I groaned at our lower body contact..He was not so gentle as he was last time around but I welcomed it, lifting my torso off of the mattress to get a deeper angle as he began to move his hips surrounding and filling me...Masterful in every spot – we had only been together once but he seemed to know how my body worked and what I liked...Being with Edward like this was nothing short of spectacular..How had I ever questioned my self-concious opinion of myself?

Wrapping my hands around his wrists on the mattress, I found his rhythm moving my own hips a little faster than last time as well...Needing to have another orgasm and quickly as the need was too much to handle.

Instead of asking him to go faster...Words no longer coming into my mind – there was no way that they will come out understandable from my mouth, I increased my hips, Edward following me never once stopping to find it – he knew my body better than anyone.

Edward and I came quickly...The two of us not lasting as long as our first time, the lust starting from the moment I had said his name.

He collapsed next to me, pulling me into my heaven...Stroking my hair tentatively as his breathing subsided.

"I will love you all my life, Bella Swan" he said making my heart flutter.

"You are my life, Edward Masen...No matter where we go now...It's just you and me" I breathed out returning the compliment.

"Forever"

"Forever and always"

In my true love's arms...An easy sleep swallowed me up.

England was long gone, for now...I was going to live my life in France.

France with my Edward Masen until the day I die.


	21. Finale

**Thank you very much to everyone who has recently favourited this story and reviewed at some point in a chapter (or maybe all).**

**Welcome to the Epilogue**

*~La Pomme D'Armor~*

*Bella*

(One and a half years later)

"How's everything going, Isabella?"

I hadn't realised how long I had been in the toilet, never actually going in there to fill out the call of nature, instead needing to have some time to breathe and find out something – which I know had the answer to, the only evidence of it burning the back pocket of my jeans.

"Sorry" I said genuinely apologetically as I opened the stall door to find my new friend, Blanche gazing upon me with a questioning look.

"Are you all right?" she asked me in her always so strong French accent.

"Yes" I answered her with a small smile, brushing down my jeans – one of my most favourite items of clothing...Just because it reminded me of England, France was big on denim but not the kind of denim that looked good on me – I had grown fond of my polka dot dress, though which had been the latest find in French shops thus far– always little things that sound so weird to people sound so great to you.

"Do you still wish to continue?" Blanche asked me, peering at me her eyes visible from the corner of mine as I washed my hands in the sink...Concentrating a little too much on the suds on my hands as they fell down the drain as a spiral.

"Of course...I can't keep anyone waiting" I dried my hands on two hand towels and followed Blanche out of the door.

"There's no harm in wearing your ring, Isabella?" Blanche must have noticed that I was not wearing my ring.

Three months after I had returned to Edward for the last time – also the day that I became a proper French Citizen, he proposed to me on top of the Eiffel Tower and believe me, all thoughts from others about cheesiness no longer compare to the feeling I felt as he held his Grandmother's ring out to me, asking me the question for a long-life commitment...There's was no other answer but 'yes' in my mind and so, Isabella Swan once confused and a little fearful about the idea of a future at all had stepped into the makings of one with a full heart and no doubt whatsoever in her mind.

"I know, it just helps that I have it around my neck...its closer to my heart but then again, no one can really put it down as a definite engagement ring"

I was never ashamed of my ring but considering what I was about to do...I needed the comfort closer to my skin, in all honesty I needed Edward but I had to wait until lunch to see him again and being without him hurts.

The outcome of what I had done in the privacy of the toilet was when I needed Edward's love close to me also.

"Let's go...They're waiting"

"Hello, what is your name?"

"Cecilia"

"That's a beautiful name, Cecilia...Thank you for coming, today"

I do not know whether I have already stated that I wanted to go into literature – what I meant at the time of making those aspirations was to go and study in university and take a full-time course, like the people in England do when they want to make a career out of what they love. I, however never being the same as other people...Found another way of doing so. To celebrate our first Christmas, Edward had saved up in secret to buy me my own laptop...His reasons for giving me the gift was that I may need it if I was going to study...There was something in the way that his eyes sparkled that led me to believe that he wanted me to do other things on it.

Something like writing....

The last time I had gained the time to sit down and write anything was about two years before coming to France...The writing, which was originally going to be a short-story turned into a three act-play which I had kept in my memory box to highlight of my first attempts.

The laptop was used then, to write 'La Pomme D'Armor'...A novel about a young girl's struggle as she enters a new country for the first time and finds love...Life situations throwing the lovers under but in the end, keeping them afloat....The summary is much more detailed but for basics, it was going to have to do.

From Christmas that year for six months...I wrote a full novel..Not once imagining it to be published, instead keeping it for my own children to look at one day...I had to change the names because of privacy but the story was exactly the same.

In secret, Edward took the drafted novel and sent it to a publishers in France, one of the main ones as there were only around three...The story was in English and so I found out later that he only had to have one choice because the agents spoke English and French, a good enough knowledge of English to read a novel in it, anyway.

In a twist of luck, the publisher send Edward back a note to say that they wanted to meet with me...The only moment I knew he had done this was when he showed me the note...I panicked because the draft I had written was gone but he said that it had gone to a much better place than where we were living.

Edward's actions shocked me....I'll admit in full honesty that I was angry at first...Feeling a little betrayed that he had not told me what he was doing...He only argued and stated that I was never going to let him do it...And of course, he was spot on.

That was our first and last argument to date, the pain I felt in not speaking to him was worse than what he had done – he was only looking out for me at now, I was thankful to him.

My literary agent, called Blanche published my book quickly, not needing to change anything about it because of the rawness of the language...Before I knew it or could have a few moments to register it, I was a first-time author...Now, in the process of my third book signing in France.

The sad thing was, I was going to have to go to England and various places in Europe to do book signings as well on my tour...Leaving Edward had been hard at the start of our relationship but as we had gotten older and now wanted to get married to each other...Nothing was the same.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome" I had time for the people who had come along to get signed copies of my book...The audience was a mix of ages, not really young because of the depth of love as an emotion in the book but...A nice amount of young and old people clearly appreciated my writing and the time and effort I had put into it...That meant a lot to me and my fans were everything to me.

As the signing finished and all the copies of my book on the table were gone, Blanche turned to me.

"We would like you to write a sequel...I know that you have already said you cannot but...Seeing this crowd today and only for this country alone makes me believe that there will be more people who want to have another book"

It's true that I had refused the idea to write another book because, up until now...Mine and Edward's story was consistent – we were engaged and living out our lives smoothly with no changes in routine or any reason to get a plot for a novel.

At this moment in time, things had taken a change...A change that I was now aware of, but not Edward...As of yet.

"I will start a sequel...But it will take me longer to write and I need that amount of time to do it...Without any distractions"

"Fantastic, Isabella...It's all over, now...I will see you bright and early next week"

"Thank you"

Blanche left me with her various assistants out of the bookshop...I watched them go and realised that I must now make the time to write about the next chapter in mine and Edward's life...It was going to be a much more detailed book.

Of course, I was more optimistic than pessimistic about my sudden change in choice.

"Hello, my love"

There was my Edward standing outside our usual cafe near our house...This cafe was not the same as Sebastian's one but it was close enough to being just as comfortable for the two of us as a usual place to spend the day.

I kissed him softly on the lips before taking both his hands in mine.

"Edward...There is something I have to tell you-"

"What is it, sweetheart...Was it anything that happened today?"

"No" the look of concern clouding my fiancée's face made this whole revelation a little better – he still had a place for me in his heart after nearly two years as he would always be forever moulded in mine.

"I have decided to write another novel...A follow on to the last one"

"Bell I thought you said that it was going to take too much time, that and the fact that you lacked the plot to do so"

"That's changed...The book will be more detailed but now, I have a reason to write"

"I don't understand"

Looking up at him, I smiled a little taking a deep breath and reaching for the one thing that had been burning in my pocket for the entire day – shielding from Edward had been hard on me at the back of my mind because he and I never kept any secrets from each other.

Keeping my eyes on Edward, I pulled the product into view of his face and I watched his evergreen eyes brighten ever so slightly as he gazed down upon it.

"We have done it...Edward...We're going to have a baby" I said to him, tears of happiness falling from my eyes..Those tears I had spent a good three and a half hours keeping away from the book signing and my work. Personal lives and work lives are always going to be two separate things.

"Oh, Bella" Edward gasped kissing me hungrily and passionately, winding his hands around my waist and pulling me closer to him, my hands on his shoulders..I smiled against his mouth as I poured out the love I held for him in my own mouth movements. The test in my hand now feeling much lighter, the weight of the possibility of Edward never accepting my pregnancy a fifty percent possibility.

That moment, the two of us in our own little bubble outside our second favourite place continues to be the second most amazing moment in my entire life.

Edward had been miserable as a waiter, after we had made the life choice to be together...As in just living together, rather than getting engaged...He used his already impressive educational achievements and went on to study medicine in University. It turns out that Edward Masen is a genius, academically and it was great to know that he could now make a choice and further his education.

My salary from the sales of my book kept us comfortable...We had moved into an apartment of our own after two months of my book hitting the shelves – I had a lot of money, I cannot deny that but at the same time...Edward and I had grown up living comfortably but having the tendencies to struggle financially and we were not going to take anything for granted now that we had some. I paid for Edward's education, he was adamant to pay me back but considering that he had paid my rent money when I had met him to stay in the same apartment before and after we were together – I refused to have anything back. He had done so much for me; it was now my time to return the favour.

Edward continued to study during the whole time of my pregnancy, I, using the time of peace to write down the main points of my pregnancy in my notebook and making a mental note to include everything about mine and Edward's journey in the same style as I had done in the prequel.

The pregnancy had its bad and it's good times – Two months before I was due...Edward and I married in a registry office...Having Sebastian and Jake as witnesses. Paul, Jacob, Sebastian and Alice were still a huge part of both our lives and the only people who were present at our wedding...Even though, I did still keep in contact with my mum...I had taken her advice and was living my life...My own way...My dad now not being a part of it, again.

Edward Anthony Masen and Isabella Marie Masen gave birth to a boy on the 29th January at twelve minutes past midnight after a fourteen-hour labour...The baby weighed six pounds four ounces and all members of the family were well.

The baby boy was later named Louie James Masen.

"What are you doing, mummy?"

Louie had come bounding onto my lap as I finished the last sentence of my prequel novel 'La Pomme floraison'.

"Mummy has finished her next book" I informed my beautiful son, running my hands through his hair which was identical to Edward's...Louie also loves having my fingers run through it as much as Edward does.

"Can you read it to me?"

"How about...I read it to you, tonight for your bedtime story" Louie looked up at me and smiled, the same chocolate orbed eyes that belonged to me staring into my own "I love you mummy" he says with a smile.

I love you, too...Always and forever, my little man" I answered him wrapping my arms around him and kissing his cheek, then blowing a raspberry on his neck and making him giggle uncontrollably on my lap.

This was the moments that life were meant to be made for...The moments we cherish and the moments we will forever be grateful for.

For my life...I will be always _more_ than grateful.

*~The End~*


End file.
